


Throwing Caution to the Wind

by violet_sunflowers



Category: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, BAMF May Parker (Spider-Man), F/M, Fluff, Intern Peter Parker, Light Angst, Medical Inaccuracies, Not Canon Compliant, Precious Peter Parker
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-24
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-02-26 23:55:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 33
Words: 54,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21547897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/violet_sunflowers/pseuds/violet_sunflowers
Summary: Peter is Spiderman, and only Ned knows. But what happens when Peter gets an invite to follow around the head of the R&D department at Stark Industries, and when the Tony Stark himself takes over his internship due to some legal loopholes. Well considering that Spiderman is being hunted down by Ironman, it's probably gonna be a complicated mess. And what about May. How will she handle Peter's constant comings and goings after Ben died.Well, really all Peter can do is throw caution to the wind (hehe) and hope Parker Luck doesn't take the wheel that everything works out in the end.
Relationships: May Parker (Spider-Man) & Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Michelle Jones & Peter Parker, Michelle Jones/Peter Parker, Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Original Male Character(s), Peter Parker & Pepper Potts & Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 98
Kudos: 310





	1. Chapter 1

He had only been Spiderman for a few months. The city wasn't sure what to think of him yet, he understood that. But like, come on, 4 cops surrounding him with there guns pointed right at his chest was a little excessive right. So he figured a more diplomatic approach would be appropriate. 

"Alright, here's the deal," he started. "I'll give you guys a hand in my free time, I promise to to minimal to no damage to the city yada yada yada. I'm good guy. Promise." 

But the cops weren't having it

"Sorry man, we've got our orders from the chief." 

Frustrated, he decided that maybe reminding the cops that he was a good guy would be a fine follow up. 

"Ask the the chief how his daughter is feeling why don't ya"

He remembered that one. After an attempted mugging, the victim asked him if he could walk her a a few blocks down to her building. He agreed of course, not knowing at the time that she was the chiefs daughter . 

The officers looked at each other, at one in particular, that's when Peter realized who it was. Chief McConnell. Oops, maybe that wasn't the best idea. He stood there nervously, he could get away, easy. The problem was he didn't particularly want to be pegged as a criminal who needed to be brought in. Mostly so he could keep patrolling without interference, but also because a *secret* identity wasn't normally given to people who could easily keep tabs on him. 

Finally after a discussion between the officers spoken in harried glances and odd looks Peter could never understand they had a verdict. The chief stepped forward. 

He was nervous, he'd never actually thought about what he'd do in a situation like this. He figured the cops would leave him alone. At least that's what their plan had been. Peter had had Ned hack into the database, he was mentioned. But he had been labeled as a non threatening potential threat, but was to be left alone. The cops voice pulled him out of his daydreams.

"Spiderman, we've kept close tabs on you these past few weeks, and on average you spend a total of 30 hours a week in the city, you occasionally damage city property but those are generally for bank robberies or things just in the precipice of what you might consider "petty crimes". You stop the same amount of crimes as 8 cops in one night. We've decided that your a good guy, heck, we've even decided to let you keep your identity secret. But be warned, one slip up and you'll have all of New York's finest on your tail." 

Relief, that was the only thing that could describe what Peter felt. More accurate would be a dam bursting, but to sum it up was relief.

He gave them a quick salute using it as an easy transition into a shot with his webshooters onto a nearby building. 

"Thanks guys, I won't let you down, more importantly, I won't let the city down." He promised as he swung into the skyline. 

****

He stood on top of a building that's faced the west. It was his favorite time of day, sunset. Watching the colours war with eachother until they finally settled into fierce oranges and yellows. The city seemed to stop. The distant horns and screeching of tires ceases to exist, if only for a moment. Unfortunately the seconds, which always seemed to stretch into infinity at this time, ended. 

"Spiderman, the rumours are true it seems." Said a voice behind him.

He turned around to see an old man in blue overalls making his way towards him. 

"Which ones, the city can get pretty creative" he said easily. 

The man chuckled. 

"That they can indeed," he paused "but this particular rumour is that you like to hang out on this roof." 

"They're not wrong" Peter answered, still a little wary. Especially after his little run in with the cops earlier. 

The man peered at him, clearly deciding on what he should say next. Finally he seemed to find the right words. 

"I just wanted to thank you. You've saved both my daughter's, and friends of mine. The city's debating about whether or not your a good guy, but I can tell you are. The police said when they confronted you, that you took a very non violent approach."

"It was on the news" he added seeing Peter's confused look.

****

That night when Peter swung into his room, he, for the first time since he started, fellt like he was truly making a difference. So when he went to sleep that night, he didn't worry about the people he couldn't save, but rather all the people he would save.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, so I've recently gone down the rabbit hole of Spiderman fics. So I decided why not write my own. Eventually I'd like to write my own fully fledged book so fan-fics are a great way to test the waters. If there are any grammatical errors please let me know or of something doesn't really make sense. Also I will be basing his school experience more in the education system where I live, apologies if that confuses you. This has also been posted on Wattpad under the same title. Be warned though that I do the majority of the editing once I get ot to AO3 and on Wattpad it's really just a glorified rough copy. I do this because I prefer the writing interface on Wattpad and more people read the story in here.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is kinda just a chapter meant to show how his life currently is. This is a typical day in te life until everyones favorite (or second favorite) titanium alloy man shows up

He jumped at the sound of his alarm going off. He regretted staying out so late last night. After the the old man found him on the roof at sunset, he had started telling him about what he does from the perspective of the city. And he gave him a small wolf charm. 

"Wolf's are dangerous creatures, but they protect their own. Loyal like no other animal. Harmless until you show them your dangerous. Keep this with you, to remember that that's how we see you. As someone we can turn to. As someone we trust. Your near the top of the food chain, but not quite the highest tier." He had told him when he handed it to him. 

It gave Peter a rush of motivation that lasted until 2. Then he had had to complete an essay for English that had taken another hour. 

He sighed as he got out of bed, bracing himself for the rush of cool air as he pushes the blankets off of him. He went around the house in his usual order. Bathroom, get dressed, grab breakfast, stuff his homework into his backpack then he finally stumbled out the door. 

He made it to the subway station a few minutes later. And while waiting for his train, he checked The Web. The Web was a little blog dedicated to anything Spiderman, it had popped up after his first month. The blog was generally pretty accurate and pretty quick. The latest post was about the bus crash that he stopped a few days ago. But most importantly he checked he section labeled 'The Man Behind the Mask'. Whoever was running it has seemingly made it their lifes mission to figure out who he was. So far though they had simply narrowed down the fact that he was from Queens. 

He boarded his train and went on to school. 

"Dude, movie night Friday" exclaimed a voice behind him. 

It was Ned. Movie nights were always exciting, you could never tell what would happen.

"Do I look like an idiot, of course." Peter said thinking about the snacks.

"What movie(s)" Ned asked 

"The Hunger Games" Peter answered without missing a beat.

"No way dude, LotR." Ned cried.

"How about this, whoever makes more references towards the movies gets to pick" 

Peter said invoking they're favorite game. It also didn't help that he normally ended up winning it that he used it pretty often. 

"You guys are such nerds" came a new voice from behind them.

It was MJ. 

"You know you love us" said Peter. 

It was true, at the beginning of the year, he and Ned had claimed a table at the edge of the cafeteria. A few days later MJ had simply plopped down a few seats away and stayed. A few weeks later she had started yelling replies to whatever conversation they were having. After that it didn't take long for her to start sitting closer to them, Then theyto start talking more often, and eventually movie nights became a 3 person event. 

Peter was especially happy because she wasn't afraid of Flash and often had a perfect clap-back for him after he bullied Peter. 

She rolled her eyes, a ghost of a smile playing on her lips. 

Then the bell rung so they headed to class. At least that was the plan.

He felt a slight tingle at the base of his neck. But he knew he couldn't move or he could be found out, so he let it happen.

He was suddenly shoved against the locker, at such a force that it would've probably bruised the average person, fortunately he wasn't the average person. 

"I see the punching bag has found a little caravan to hide behind. You really thought you could walk right past me without any consequences." Taunted Flash. 

He felt his neck tingle again before he felt a fist make contact with his stomach. Then another, and another. 

Turns out he had walked right past the 'Flash Bandits' as Peter had mentally dubbed them. They were the ones the school feared. The ones he tried to avoid. Made up of a bunch of grade 10 through 12's. Flash being the only grade 9 on it. Apparently the old leader had left them in his hands. Peter didn't like knowing that Flash wasn't the biggest idiot around. 

As nice as super human strength and resilience it didn't completely stop him from bruising. And by the time they were finished with him, he could tell that there wouldn't be a spot left on his stomach that wasn't purple by the end of the day. 

**********

The rest of the day went pretty good compared to the morning. Phys-ed was pretty rough with his stomach the way it was but he powered through. At lunch MJ gave Peter a lengthy lecture about why he should stand up to Flash every once in a while, or at the very least tell a teacher about what's going on. 

She cared, Peter realized. He felt his heart flutter ever so slightly at the realization.

But finally the final bell rang. He hurried outside pulling of his cloths and changed to his suit. Most people would call it more of a high-tech onesie though. Since school started in September, Peter had been preparing for the winter months by figuring out a heating system. The best he had so far was a wiring system similar to toasters. The fabric was the hardest part since the school had a plethora of different wires for the mechanical engineering class. But fire retardant fabric was much more difficult. 

He heard a gentle ding come from his earpiece. 

"Spider to Guy in the Chair, Guy in the Chair are you there" 

"I'm here" 

Great, I don't want a repeat of last week being at the wrong end of a block so maybe we need to have the police scanners audio converted into a teleprompter type deal. With the constantly moving text ya know." Peter said swinging from skyscraper to skyscraper looking out for any danger.

"Yup, I've got you covered. I got the police scanner hooked up to my computer. After last week I wanted to have a real time map of the city. So I made some adjustments and did some technical jargon to convert the audio into information that my computer can convert onto the real time map software I made. You won't find anything else like it." Ned proclaimed proudly. 

"Dude, you did all that, in a week for me!?" Awed Peter 

"Last week man, I can't do that again" answered Ned. 

The rest of the day was pretty typical, muggings, a hit and run, a few corner store robberies and even a bank heist. 

Peter and Ned stayed connected the entire time. Along with the banter that filled the time in which Peter was only swinging from building to building. Ned also told Peter where any crimes were happening. As it turned out, not only could Ned's software give a visual on where crimes were happening, but also where the cop cars were. Which meant that Peter never same within one block of them. 

All was normal until that Friday after Ned went to get dinner with his family. That left Peter on his usual spot on the roof at sunset. He felt the familiar tingling at the base of his neck before hearing the thrusters. 

"Well well well, the rumours are true," came a voice from behind him. "the great Spiderman hangs out on a rooftop at sunset."

It was Ironman 

Internally Peter groaned. 

"Tin can, nice for us to finally meet. But unfortunately I can hear the sirens down on 5th, so I gotta head out." Peter said making his way towards the edge of the building. 

"Uh uh uh, I've got a proposition for you, and you'd better listen lest you want the Avengers on your tail." He said. 

"Fine but you'd better make it quick" Peter snapped.

"We've been watching you. The news reports, the YouTube video. Even that blog. Your pretty good, if a little rough around the edges. Not very well trained. So we want to make you an Avenger. You would work with us in combat, and in return, you get unlimited access to the best tech and healthcare money can buy. Oh and exposure. What do you say." 

Peter wanted nothing more than to say yes. He wanted to be an Avenger and live at the tower. He wanted to be on standby the next time New York got invaded by aliens. But he was a highschooler, not only that. He was only a grade 9. They couldn't know that. Not yet. Maybe not ever. He had the be ok with that. 

"Well, listen here Android man, you seem pretty good in your lineup. And besides, I'd rather not hang out with a self important, conceited billionaire all the time." Peter told him. 

He looked pretty shocked. Apparently not many people dared talk to him like that. Internally it hurt Peter to say that to his hero. But it had the he done.

When Ned came back online, Peter told him what happened. Ned lost his marbles when Peter told him . But he understood his friends decision. 

They spent the rest if the evening tag teaming the criminals of New York and laughing about things that happened at school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N ik this is really long and internal dialogue-y compared to the first chapter but I mostly wrote this chapter to explain how things work in this story. Also im really bad at dialogue so.. Lemme know if any grammatical errors and if anyone has any tips for dialogue I'd really appreciate it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is basically just Peter and Ned designing and fixing a load of technology used for Spiderman purposes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any and all technical jargon is 110% me pretending that I know what it's all about. Extreme creative liberty taken. You have been warned

Spiderman didn't go out for the rest of the week. Peter wasn't gonna take any chances with the Avengers. Which is why on Saturday he and Ned gathered in his room to start what would later be called project Avoid All Avengers, or Triple A batteries for short. 

"Do you think we can do what you did with the police cars with the Avengers suits." Asked Peter. 

"The only reason that worked, is cause all the police cars are hooked up to the same frequency on the radios. And the Avengers work on their own frequency. I could try to hack it, but it's risky." 

"Maybe we could connect the security cameras and use your software to be scanning for their suits."

Ned thought about this for a second, but eventually shook his head.

"Again it's too risky. If the city notices something weird with the security cameras, they could trace it back to us, especially since all the information will eventually funnel to our IP addresses. But," Ned got a thoughtful expression on his face. "If we could make mini trackers, and have them run on an unused FM frequency, we could find a way to stick them to their suits use that to track them." 

"That's brilliant" Peter said excitedly. 

Since they were at Peter's, and May wasn't due home till the early morning, they spent the better part of the night working out the details  
It was near 2am when the dream became a reality. 

"Dude," Ned said suddenly. "We need a name for this" 

The coke and gummy bears were talking at this point. The had originally called it 'Avoid the Avengers at All Costs'. But then Ned proposed Avoid All Avengers. To which Peter proposed 'Triple A Batteries'. After a laughing fit that had them going at it for more than a few minutes. They calmed down enough to get back to work.

"Triple A Batteries it is." Peter said wiping a tear from his eye. 

With their work done for the night, having already made the devices and the casings to be in their 5th period manufacturing class the next Monday, they hopped into bed.

**********

Peter woke up cursing himself for the second time in a week. At least he got sleep in this time. But since it was Saturday, and with all their homework having been completed the previous day before their little late night shenanigans. So that was a plus. He checked the clock, 10 o'clock. He figured that that was a good time as any to wake up. 

After trying unsuccessfully for a few minutes to wake up Ned, they got out of bed and started breakfast. After successfully not burning down the apartment they looked at the previous nights work making sure that their sleep deprived brains didn't miss anything obvious or calculated something wrong. After a few minor adjustments, they were ready to start on the blueprints for the casings. They needed a light metal so aluminum was the best option. They figured a few small air holes were best in case it started overheating. They also added a small red light to reroute the extra energy as a preventative measure for overheating. Then May came home so they covered up the blueprints with their binders and pretended to be working on their English. 

"Hi Peter, hi Ned." Said May from the door. 

She walked in holding what looked to be the weeks groceries. Peter went to give her a hand while Ned subtly slipped their things back into Peter's room. After all the groceries were away, they put all the Triple A blueprints to rest. 

He and Ned instead went to upgrade the Guy in the Chair's trusty sidekick. Yes, the sidekick's sidekick. The laptop had been made using spare parts from everywhere in the city. The large cardboard box of old computer parts in the school included. It was a bulky piece of tech and weighed about the same as 3 textbooks stacked on top of each other. But when they had started the blueprints for it, they had both agreed that they couldn't risk it being a desktop. They had tried creating a pseudo start up menu, but with all the programs they had planned out, the pseudo start up would take up too much of the computers processing power. 

Their latest piece of genius was trying to get the laptop to monitor Peter's vitals. Peter had protested vehemently against this addition, but after he had gotten shot, Ned had put his foot down. 

The old apple watches and fit bits the had collected had been dissected and the all the monitors had been removed. Ned was trying to comfortably integrate them into parts of the suit. 

Eventually the night came and they put on a random movie as background noise to their work after May went to bed. 

They decided that this would be a great time to go in and work out the kinks on the older tech. Since it was made pretty much from scratch with questionable part sources, the boys found themselves doing this more often then they would like. 

"We could do so much more if we had better tech and more time" Peter said. 

"We could," Ned agreed. "But we don't have either and were doing pretty good for ourselves." 

"Ya, but like, imagine if we always had the right sized wires. And of we could always weld whenever we needed instead of trying to find screws small enough or drills powerful enough for the metal we're using. Heck, half the laptop is being held together with craft glue." Peter said vehemently.

"We don't have the budget. I would love to have a soldering iron ready to go at any time, or not have to reconfigure an entire circuit whenever the wire sing the turn size, bit we can't. Us doing our bi-weekly dumpster days helps a ton, and they're pretty fun, helps a ton though. Looking at the stuff we've got, we would have gone bankrupt several times over even if we had gotten it at used electronic stores. We have to be reasonable" Ned sighed, clearly as unhappy as Peter that he had to say these things. But he had to say them. 

After that, the conversation went back to the laptop and craft glue situation. They decided that their best bet was getting something along the lines of gorilla glue, but that wasn't feasible with the current budget. Eventually they settled for stealing screws off the door hinge collection Peter seemed to have acquired. It was a strange one, but the hinges were great for keeping things together, and they often found themselves stealing the screws for other projects. 

The night continued like this well into the morning. They found a problem, they figured out the ideal solution, and they found a low budget alternative. Eventually at around 3AM, they fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If there are any grammatical errors feel free to let me know. I haven't updated this story in a while but with the whole quarantine going on I figured I may as well try to be productive. Also it's been a while but I recently read back the first few chapters, and honestly, I'm really happy with them so I figured that j may as well keep going.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here we establish the fact that the avengere are onto Peter, see more patrol, and watch as the self-sacraficial teen gets and injury that will provide result in a fun problem soon enough.

Sunday had passed fairly quickly. After Ned lugged home the laptop and set it back up at home, Peter went on a quick patrol. May was working again so that made it easier for Peter to sneak out. He gave the cannisters containing his web fluid a quick shake to confirm that he still had some. Thankfully since it was basically a glorified can of silly string, a little went a long way. 

He whooped as he took his first swing. The rush never got old. It thrilled Peter knowing that all there was between the concrete below him, and the sky above were his own creations. The web fluid had been something he worked on well before he roped (or webbed) Ned into this whole thing. He still had the shirt that was covered in webs that refused to dissolve to prove it. He had that formula saved in a note on his phone. He wasn't sure what use it would have, but he was certain that he would eventually find one. Although that was the only one that made it onto his phone. All the others, including the one in current use, were in a notebook that he had bought specifically for the webs. 

The violent honking of a horn brought him out of his thoughts. Down at the intersection he watched as a red Toyota Corolla ran a red light. The car was seconds away from crashing. He let his instincts take over. He felt his arms extend, one to the building behind them, the other to the car. He felt the impact of his webs hitting their targets. He felt the muscles in his upper back and shoulders stretch, we swore he heard one tear. But thankfully, it only lasted a second. He disengaged the web and went down to survey the scene. 

He heard the applause and gentle horns going on as he landed. 

"Man," Peter thought, "if only everyday could be his successful"

The drivers were fine, the same however, could not be said about the car. While the truck had a light scratches from driving into a road sign, the car was bent in the middle. Peter was mildly impressed with himself for that one. The entire engine looked like it was bowing to the rest of the car. 

"Does insurance cover vigilante related accidents" it was the owner of the car. He was across the street from where Peter was.

"Dunno man, it hasn't been too long, and you were the one running a red light" said Peter jumping the distance of the street.

Although he wasn't sure if people had figured out weather or or he was enhanced yet. He had heard some rumors floating around that the suit was doing it all. He tried to be careful on what he revealed on his average escapade, but that one most definitely have it away.

The driver gave him a look. It probably stemmed from the fact that Peter had both heard him from the other side of the street, and jumped to his side of the street.

But Peter wasn't really in the mood to figure out if he could be charged with the damage so he shrugged.

"It was either you or the street dude, not a hard decision"

With that, Peter gave a quick 2 fingered salute and swung off.

******

This week had already started better than the last. Especially for Ned with his fancy monitors on his pulse points. 

But Peter should have known better. Parker Luck™ and all that stuff. 

And like any good story, it all began with a gunshot.

Crack

The sound of the gun rung throughout the alley. The sobs of the civilian who was both valiantly, and foolishly refusing to give up her necklace. 

"Please, it's a family heirloom, it belonged to my great-great grandmother" she said through sobs. 

The crook just gave a small smirk.

"That would mean it's very old then, no" 

"Yes, as far-, as far as we can tell, it's from 1920" 

"All the more reason as to why you should hand it over" 

His voice seemed so final, so sure, that Peter knew it was the exact perfect time to jump down from the fire escape he was currently perched on.

"Hey jerk, I've met puppy kickers nicer than you are" 

He shot a quick web towards the gun, pinning both it, and the hand that was holding it to the wall behind. 

"Ned, code blue star" 

He heard Ned fall out of is chair, meaning that he had fallen asleep again. Thankfully though, after a few seconds of fumbling, Peter heard the familiar high pitched whinning of the small tape recorder they had converted to a phone type device to alert the police. 

But just as Peter was getting ready to leave, he heard the sound of the gun going off, and time seemed to stretch into eternity, followed by a feeling of urgency. He jumped in front of the woman who was also walking out of the alley. 

He felt a white hot pain in his thigh. The goon had been able to stretch the webs just enough to rotate his wrist towards the street. 

Making sure his entire hand was encased in webs and ensuring that the woman was ok was difficult with Ned was yelling in is ear "Dude, you got shot again, staunch the bleeding. Once all that was taken care of, he looked his thigh which he had been stubbornly ignoring. He saw that it was pretty bad so he webbed himself up onto a nearby rooftop to check his thigh in better light. 

He pulled out his penlight from his belt, which held the light, 2 spare canisters of web fluid 2 cans of the dissolvent, and a letter opener. After seeing the bullet hole, he pulled out the letter opener. The dull blade was just sharp enough to cut through the suit to give him a better view.

When he noticed that the bullet had lodged itself right by the bone, but thankfully seemed to have missed it, he once again pulled out the knife and dug the bullet out. It was bloody. And it hurt. The last bullet that Peter had managed to get hit by, had made an exit hole. He longed for that one. Ned wasn't helping him by periodically reminding him that he needed to douse it in rubbing alcohol once he got home. Which was fair bit decidedly something Peter wasn't looking forward too. 

Finally, after much finagling, it was out. But just because it was out didn't mean it hurt any less. He made a makeshift band-aid from webs and headed home. 

He was a ways from home so he and Ned kept up the banter. Ned was adamant that Peter not go after anyone. He would have definitely disconnected Ned if he had to, but thankfully the streets were quite.

And that wasn't necessarily a lie. The streets were quite. But unfortunately for Peter, streets are in fact not synonymous with skies. 

His leg was killing him, and he was pretty sure that the makeshift band-aid needed to be changed already. He wasn't even halfway home. So he stopped on another rooftop. His plan was to take a quick 2 minute break. Keyword being was. 

He had just barley managed to change the webs when he hears the repulsors. 

He sighed. This was gonna be a looong night.

"TinCan, nice of you to join me," he said standing up and turning around dramatically, "but unfortunately I've got things to do and places to be. 

"Not this time Second Hand, now that you refused, it gave me an excuse to really put you on my radar. However, I can respect you wanting to keep low to the ground, but, I'm gonna need a name of that's how you wanna play"

"A) rude, this suit was actually handmade from the finest materials the average New Yorker can buy"

He could practically hear Mr. Starks eye-roll from under the face plate

"and B) how about we stick to my stage name. I don't think we're on a first name basis yet. But maybe I'll swing by for afternoon tea once in a while and if you're lucky, I'll tell you my favorite color."

With that, he swung off

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome, or welcome back. Dialogue is hard and idk what point of view is happening. Quarantine is fun. Not. And I have what I think is kinda a unique way for Peter and Tony to cross paths for the first time that I haven't seen done before, should be coming pretty soon.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter Peter is offered a very special position by a very important someone. This chapter is kinda boring, but it must be done

Monday came. And with Monday, came school. His thigh still wasn't healed. Even though he had made sure to properly clean it and bandage it, it felt almost worse than it had the night before. To top it all off, he had a massive headache. 

Still, he dragged himself out of bed, knowing the sooner he started the day, the sooner it would finish. 

He spend the morning trying to move around as little as possible and favouring his right leg. The left one screamed bloody murder any time it was used exclusive for more than a few seconds. He might have found that worrying if he knew how a bullet wound normally healed. Trouble is, this was only his second bullet wound. And it was the first time the bullet hadn't made an exit. 

When the time got closer to the time he normally left he knew that he would probably need to walk slower and take quick breaks along the way. So, cutting breakfast and a few other non-essential things from his usual morning rush, he managed to leave 20 minutes earlier than normal. Thankfully he managed to get to the Subway on time, but just barley. 

When he got to school, Ned was waiting for him. When he saw Peter limping towards the school, his face took on a look of concern. 

"You shouldn't be here" he said 

"I cleaned it, it didn't hit the bone, it's all good" 

Ned looked at him like he didn't quite believe him but after a little bit more arguing, eventually let it go.

When he got to first period he was ready to sit in a chair for an hour, but unfortunately for him, that wish didn't come true.

As soon as he sat it the back of the class his dreams were dashed. Not by his leg though.

No, the P.A systems ruined that one

"Peter Parker to the principles office please, Peter Parker to the principles office please"

The entire class looked back at him.

With a sigh, he picked up his bag and trudged toward the office. 

*******

When he got there, the secretary just directed him to principal Morita's door. 

When he walked in, he saw someone's already in one of the visitors chairs. He had short brown hair, medium built and looked to be in his 30's. Something about him looked familiar, but Peter couldn't figure out where he would have seen him before.

"Peter," principles Morita said gesture for him to sit down beside him, which he did immediately, "there's someone I would like you to meet."

"I'm Dr. Edward Boonton, head of R&D at Stark Industries" said the man holding out his hand. 

That's where he was from, Dr. Boonton had been on the news last week for creating and donating a robotic arm to be used in people getting certain types of surgeries. The arms design was sleek and could be very delicately moved around, fingers and all. 

"Peter Parker, I'm honoured sir"

"Now Peter, Dr Boonton here has an exciting proposition for you" said principal Morita.

"A few months ago, he came here wondering if there were any students who would be interested in becoming an apprentice of sorts. His idea was that one lucky student would arrive at the tower every Friday instead of going to school and just follow him around doing whatever he happened to be doing that day. Trouble is, this school is filled with kids who would jump at this chance, we needed a true way to see what student would fit the role best. 

"So," Dr Boonton started, "I asked every teacher here at Midtown to write a letter of recommendation and from there, I would pick the best one. However you, Peter, threw a wrench in my plans"

Peter felt his stomach drop, he thought back to the past few months, where had he messed up, what mistakes had he made. But before he could work himself into a frenzy any further, Dr Boonton had more to add.

"I got 5 letters recommending you. So I realized I couldn't pick my favorite is the teachers had a collective favorite." He said with a smile on his face. 

Peter couldn't believe it, 5 teachers had recommended him. What an honour.

********

The rest of the day passed by in a blur. He kept taking out the information package that Dr Boonton had given him before leaving. It explained the days (every Friday for 14 weeks), what Peter could expect (attending and participating in design meetings, helping Dr Boonton with minimal paper work, and developing and creating designs from blue print to prototype and more), and how this would impact his schooling (it wouldn't, homework would be given to him the Thursday before and projects would be handed in electronically or be given in on Thursdays instead of Friday where necessary). 

And when he felt the wind coming through the fabric of his suit that evening, it was just made the day that much sweeter.

*********

May was ecstatic when she found out. They played the official Parker Hype Song™ (Something Big by Shawn Mendes) and dances around the living room. May also went to pick up a small chocolate cake from the bakery down the street in celebration.

It wasn't until late that night that Peter realized that he would be in close proximity to the Avengers. Not only that, but in constant range of Friday, Mr Starks AI. 

"Problems for another tomorrow," he thought, "I probably won't even ever see them" 

Of only Peter knew just how wrong he was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter probably felt like a filler, but it was a nessicary evil. Sorry. Next chapter will hopefully be more exciting. I'm winging this whole story if you couldn't tell. I have no clue what's gonna happen next, just what it's gonna eventually lead up to.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a fun lighthearted chapter involving Peter and the gang at they pick a movie for their usual Friday night marathon. And then it gets kinda sad at the end.

By Thursday, his thigh felt like he had just pulled a muscle. But, it confused Peter as to why it took so long. Bullet wounds were new to him sure, but stab wounds seemed to be in the same family, and those only took maybe a night to a day until they were mere scars, and those healed just a day or 2 after that. But once again, Peter brushed it off as a new norm and went to school.

"So losers, are any of you up for a game of references." MJ said plunking herself down across from him and Ned.

It was weird hearing MJ initiate the game, but the two had been talking about watching a few of the Harry Potter movies on Friday. She had complained on more than one occasion that they had seen those movies way too many times.

Peter took it in stride though.

"Are you challenging us Jones" said Peter raising one of his eyebrows.

"So what if I am Parker" she replied coolly.

The look on her face would have gotten anyone else to back down, but Peter saw the smile hidden behind her eyes. 

"What movie"

"The Hunger Games" 

Predictable, she loved that movie. She was always talking about how the author really challenged societal norms in the books while also making it a genuinely good story with a strong female lead

"I guess we're on then" Peter said with a smile.

"Let the Games begin" 

She smirked when she saw that Peter realized that she had just made a reference. 

He tried to fight back with a worthy reference. 

He was too slow though 

"And may the odds be ever in your favour" 

Her smirk only grew when Peter loudly announced to Ned that they would most definitely not be watching Harry get the snitch for a few more weeks. 

*******

They had thoroughly had their backsides handed to them. Despite the fact that there were two of them. MJ always managed to one up them. 

In chemistry when Cindy had managed to light the sleeve of her lab coat on fire, she had whispered "Presenting Cindy, the Girl who was on Fire"

Later when they heard the theater kids rehearsing Romeo and Juliet she had motioned to them and declared them "The star-crossed lovers from district 12"

That continued the remainder of the day, and while Peter and Ned had managed to slip in a couple good ones, like when Flash had pushed Peter against the locker and he had looked at Flash point blank and said "Scared Potter". 

That one didn't turn out too good for Peter though. But on the bright side, MJ told him afterwards that that reference was worth double because of the bruises he sported after.

*******

Patrol that night wasn't anything special. Ned wasn't there though, some uncle of his' birthday was today. He got the usual, cats stuck up in trees, attempted mugging and a couple corner store robberies. 

What got Peter exited though, was that Friday was almost here. But he still had some time kill, so he allowed himself a small break.

He was sitting on his usual rooftop watching the sunset when he noticed a flash of red headings towards him.

Sighing he resigned himself to his fate. 

"Ironman, it's been a minute. But I can't say I don't regret it" he said loudly.

"Spidey, wish I could say the same, but, I need to know" he replied

"Most people follow cue cards, and unfortunately for you, I'm one of those" he knew that one day his snark would probably be his downfall, but today wasn't that day

"Your choice" he said.

And before Peter had the chance to realize what was happening, he had already dodged a blast from a repulsors beam. 

"Rude" he yelled

He dodged another oncoming blast and just like before, let his Spidey sense take over. He rolled off the rooftop and aimed is web-shooters towards where it told him that Ironman was. He felt it latch into him and used the momentum to catapult himself off towards another, smaller rooftop.

He looked up to where Ironman was still recovering from being used as the human centrifuge and shot a weighted web grenade at him. 

The weight from the grenade was just enough to get him to hit the nearby skyscraper allowing the webs to expand and trap him there like a figurehead. 

He felt a rush of pride. He had just taken down Ironman. Ironman. The most high-tech Avenger. The one who had his own personal AI to help him out, and he was down. Because of Peter.

"That dissolves in it's own in about 2 hours. So unless you wanna call one of your Avenger buddies to come help you out, you're stuck there until then." He chuckled as he perched himself on the lip of the roof

He did his now signature two-fingered salute, and swung off

*******

After his most recent visit from Ironman, he figured it was as good a time as any to turn in for the night. So he entered through the fire escape half hour later. Unfortunately Aunt May was there waiting for him. Fortunately for him though, he had already changed out of his suit.

"Peter, where on Earth have you been" she asked

He looked at the ground. 

"I mean, I've been calling and calling you for hours, I almost called the police" she continued.

He could feel her staring at him.

"Well, what do you have to say for yourself" she sounded disappointed

Peter couldn't lie to save his life, so he decided to recount his run in with a mugger from earlier. Told from the perspective of the pedestrian though obviously. And minus Spiderman.

He took a breath and started on the crazy story that had just formed in his head.

"I was at Ned's studying when his family had to leave for his uncles birthday, so I figured I'd take the scenic route home. But then I nearly got mugged and but managed to run fast enough to the station that they couldn't catch me."

His aunt looked at him, clearly trying to process the story she had just giiven him.

"Are you ok" she finally asked.

Her tone was nonchalant, but her eyes told a very different story. They told a story of him in his uncles place, dying, bleeding out on the ground. They told a story of a black dress and heels, and of a headstone set in the ground.

They told stories of days that bled into weeks, and eventually months of tears, and laughter that teetered on the edge of turning into harsh sobs. Days Peter would rather pretend didn't happen. Days Peter would rather pretend never happened.

But they were also the days that Peter worked tirelessly to prevent other people from happening. The memory of those heavy hollow days were a part of the reason Peter went out there every day dressed in what was basically a glorified track suit.

"Yeah," he said, voice thick, "I'm ok"

He knew when he said those words that he was saying them more to himself than May. He was telling himself that no matter what the cost, he had to go out and stop families from shrinking the way his had, that he was ok with putting his life on the line like this. That he was ok with the pain because some people might never heal from and injury that might take him mere days to recover from. Like Ben, his uncle. If he had just been fast enough and taken that bullet, he would have healed in less then a week, instead, his uncle was now six feet under. Resting, never to wake up and see the sunshine again.

May knew that he was thinking of Ben. And wrapped her arms around him. He let himself break.

His sobs were loud and ugly, but may held him there like he was the most precious thing in the world. 

After a long time of them standing there May led him to his bed abd gently tucked him in and kissed his forehead.

"I can't imagine how it feels for you to have lost him, even after all this time, but remember, the pain means it's healing. And one day, you might be able to tell stories of him the way he would want them to be told, with a smile and a laugh."

With that she carefully walked out if his room, leaving the door open a crack the way she had when he had first lost his parents. It told him that she would always be there for him, all he had to do, was walk towards the light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was not coming to me until late night. It took a while to write because I felt uninspired. So if it feels kinda choppy, that's why, sorry.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter makes it to Stark Industries to shadow Dr Boonton for the first time. Unfortunately (or fortunately), Peter finally has his first contact with Mr Stark.

When his alarm went off that morning, it was probably the first time that he didn't want to crawl back into bed. 

He went through his usual rush, finally back at full speed after the gun shot.

May was already at work but she texted him wishing him a good first day with Dr Boonton and reminding him how proud she was that he had gotten the recommendation in the first place.

He took a different subway and got there well after school started. Thankfully though, Dr Boonton didn't get there until 9 anyways, so Peter still had some time to kill.

He walked up to the secretary, an older looking women with grey steaks in her other wise curly brown hair. The name plate sitting in the desk read 'Elenora Glint'.

"Hi, my name's Peter Parker and I'm supposed to be following around Dr Boonton today" he said to her.

She gave him a quick once over before looking for something in her computer.

"Midtown School of Science and Technology" she asked.

"Yep" he said nodding. 

Internally he cursed himself for sounding so young.

But she didn't seem to mind. She was smiling now.

"Dr Boonton and I had lunch in the cafeteria together yesterday, he was so exited to meet you" she told him.

"Now then, I'm gonna need the forms you should have had signed so we can get you a badge" she held out her hand, and Peter rushed to get them from his bag.

After she checked them to make sure all the appropriate things were signed and the correct information was given, she pulled out a sign from her desk drawer that said 'Taking 5' and led him down a narrow hallway towards a small room. 

The room had bright lights with covers to diffuse it, a camera on a tripod and a bag of lenses in the corner. The entire far wall was covered in blue. Peter could see how the subtle steaks of darker and lighter blue blended together to make a more dynamic and interesting backdrop.

"Now," her voice startled him out of his thoughts, "since you're going to be coming regularly, it's been decided that you should get your own employee badge, were gonna take your picture today and give you the badge next time you come. The badge will deactivate automatically when you've finished your time here, and can be a momento for everyone you've achieved"

He stood against the wall and gave the camera a smile that May seemed to love.

After that, Ms. Glint insisted on taking him up to his office herself. Along the way Peter learned about her 3 cats and grandchild to be. 

"When my daughter told me she was pregnant, it was a bit of a shock. Her and her husband have always been hesitant about kids, but she seemed so happy when she told me, I'm so happy for her. And I'll get to be a grandmother. I'm so exited for that. I do hope the baby inherits her mother's hair at least, it's the most beautiful shade of brown. The texture though, I hope comes from her father, he's got the most incredible curls that I'm imagining on a baby, it would be so cute."

Peter listens to her because it takes his mind off the nerves. Once they get there, he thanks her and takes a minute to open the door.

Inside is a large mahogany desk with a large comfortable looking black chair behind it. There were 2 visitors chairs that looked equally comfortable chairs set up. 

After a few minutes if waiting, Dr Boonton arrived.

"Peter, my boy, how have you been. Lenora absolutely loves your existence. How you did that in the short amount of time that you were with her is beyond me." 

Peter just scratched his head and shrugged. 

The rest of the morning went by fairly quickly. He got a brief tour of the lab that he would be spending the most time in, was introduced to heads of the chemistry, engineering, biological, tech and biochemistry/bioengineering departments.

He was then given a rundown of all the things that were expected of him. It really wasn't much. But he figured that lowballing his expectations here might cause problems for him down the line, so he kept those thought to himself. 

After all that, it was time for lunch.

The atrium was massive. Small food places were placed along the edges. It was all small family businesses. There wasn't a chain restaurant in sight. There was a small Italian, Mexican, Spanish, Greek, Indian, Chinese, Vietnamese and so, so many more. And that didn't even include the 3 coffee shops that were in the hallway leading up to the atrium. 

"Easy access to caffeine and sugar" was the explanation that Peter got for those. 

As it turned out, all these businesses were start-ups being helped out by the company. Since they had so many people there, it was easier for them to get some authentic cuisine then it was to leave the tower and get McDonalds or something. And it was some good easy cash for the owners who generally stayed a few years before tackling the streets of New York. 

But what fascinated Peter the most, was the large apple tree that stood in the middle of the room. The tree looked to be about 6ft tall with bright green leaves and large red apples. He was told that it had been an experiment that the biological engineering department had created. The goal was to see if they could edit the trees DNA so that it could produce the same amount of fruit, with smaller amounts of sunlight.  
The atrium at the time had been the only floor large enough to house it, since it was really 2 floors combined. 

After that, everyone felt that it would be cruel to chop it down, so they kept it. 

After a filling lunch of something Peter hadn't had before, something called poupusas, they were delicious and were essentially just stuffed tortillas. After lunch, he and Dr Boonton went down for a meeting.

The meeting was a design meeting where everyone involved would basically just play with the very rough blueprints of whatever they were building at the time. 

It was amazing. They were currently in the process of trying to create a robotic vacuum to clean up flooded areas. The original design had a robot with a large arm attached to a heavy tank for storage. The circuits were all waterproof and the tank, with the current design, could hold up to 8 gallons at a time. It would have to be manually pushed around the affected area. 

Peter had a lot of suggestions but wasn't sure if he was allowed to participate. Dr Boonton had done some brief introductions when they first walked in, but hadn't mentioned whether or not Peter would simply be watching, or actually participating. Thankfully, Dr Boonton answered that question real quick.

"Peter, I can tell that you have a few ideas, share them with us, we're all ears."

Peter had actually had several ideas running around in his head at the moment. So he excitedly stated sharing them.

"I was thinking we could use plastic bags to collect the water in. Made out of the same material as IV bags so it's thicker and more durable. " He was so distracted by what he was saying, he didn't hear the door open. "Actually I was thinking we could rewire this whole thing to act like a reverse IV bag. The water would get pumped into the robot, and we could probably rig a filter so we can provide fresh water to the effected people, and someone would just have to follow along and replace the bag every once in a while, that way it's much lighter than it would be with the tank. With that in mind, we could actually probably hook up more than 1 bag to the bot. Probably about 4. The bags would also lower both the cost of production, but also of transportation." When he finished he found all the scientists in the room staring at him.

He felt his face heat up and wondered if he had crossed any lines.

That is until he heard someone slow clapping. 

"Brilliant, absolutely brilliant. Never have I seen such ideas. I don't recognize you though, remind me who you are so I can make sure you get a raise. I'd also like for you to take over the project. Clearly whoever started it had all the right ideas, but you know how to best put it into practice." It was Tony Stark. 

Peter couldn't believe it, he sounded so genuine too.

Dr Boonton quickly stepped in though.

"Mr Stark, sir, this is just a highschooler, he comes only in Friday' and only for the next few weeks at that. We couldn't possibly give him such an important project. He's not even getting paid."

"Ridiculous, clearly he understands how this is meant to be working. I don't care how old he is, he's clearly thinking better than all the people in this room. Look at these designs." He gestured to the "improved" designs that were hung across the wall, all of them contained the clunky water tank and lacked the filter. "He's smart, in fact Dr Boonton, we'll discuss this in my office later." With that, he left.

The rest of the scientists suddenly found the table very interesting. 

Peter look over at Dr Boonton, he didn't look very happy. Then Peter realized that it was his design. His signature was in the corner of every single blueprint on the walls. Peter recognized it after staring at it all week out of excitement.

The rest of the day was hectic to say the least, but what Mr Stark said to him got him through it all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one got longer than my usual. Also you probably noticed I spent way too much time on the atrium and pretty much no time on what Peter's supposed to be doing and that's because honestly, it's easier to keep that vague. And you'll also notice that Peter doesn't actually have a title for whatever he's doing, but that's because I honestly have to idea what to call it. It's not really and internship, so idk. Feel free to leave a suggestion but things are about to take a turn for the better soon and that will solve this particular problem


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here we enjoy a movie night with the gang, follow up by the introduction of our (not so) friendly neighborhood villain. Also MJ' being a fantastic friend.

Once he got in the subway home, he was immediately assaulted with texts from the group chat asking about his day, mostly from Ned. He told them he would explain everything once they got together for the movie. It was going to be at his place because it was the quietest, May didn't mind so long as they kept it a little quieter when she went to bed. And better yet, half the time she wasn't even there.

It was his turn to by the snacks, they usually rotated between three of them buying snacks for a few weeks in one go. So he got off a few stops early and got a whole bunch of snacks and picked up 2 pizzas for their night in.

Once he got home, he dumped it all into bowls and put tinfoil over the pizzas in an attempt to keep them warm. He wasn't sure if that actually worked, but he figured if nothing else, then placebo would keep it warm, even if the tinfoil didn't. 

May was working the nightshift so they had the whole place to themselves that night.

Finally, at 5:30 on the dot, he heard knocking.

"What up loser" said MJ walking in as if she owned the place after Peter opened the door.

"Hey Peter" said Ned.

"Hey guys, we finally finished all the snacks last week so I got more yogurt covered pretzels, gummy bears, gummy working, BBQ peanuts, sunflower seeds, basically everything. MJ, it's on you to replenish the snacks next time." He said welcoming them into the apartment.

"You got it" she said already starting on the peanuts.

As they were setting up the living room with extra blankets and pillows, Peter started telling them about his day. When he got to how Dr Boonton had reacted MJ looked at him.

"You better be careful around him, I think that the whole thing he set up was to get some free labour, especially after that" she said settling herself on the couch. 

She had taken up her usual stance, left part of the 3 seater, cross-legged with a blanket over legs and a bowl resting in between. Today her snack of choice was clearly the peanuts, but she would definitely make a start on the watermelon gummies well before Katniss and Peeta held out the berries. 

But Peter just shrugged. "I don't know, I mean obviously Mr Stark couldn't give me a raise if I wasn't getting paid in the first place zero times zero is still zero. And besides, it's gonna look really good on a college application"

She just frowned at that. "You don't even have a title though. Is it an internship? Are you his assistant? If you are, you should be getting paid, or are you a staff member? I had a good look through the packages he sent home with you, even the stuff that you didn't have to sign, and there wasn't anything about what your actual position is over there"

Peter was about to respond when he realized he couldn't. What was he. He hadn't even gotten his employee badge yet. And it was true, he himself had read through those pages several times over and he hadn't seen anything as to what he was.

"Guys, movie" said Ned from his spot on the floor as an attempt to clear up the tension in the room.

Peter and Ned often switched between the couch and the floor, hence why Ned was hogging most of the pillows and blankets tonight. It was an unspoken agreement between the 3 of them that whoever was in the floor, was allowed to get more than the couch-dwellers.

Peter realized that he was still standing so he grabbed his favorite thick brown blanket and a bowl of chocolate covered raisins and sat down opposite of MJ.

********

After MJ went home in the morning having spent the night. Peter and Ned set up so Peter could patrol.

It was a nice day out. The sun was shining, the sky was the most perfect blue, and it was just the perfect chill that Peter wouldn't get too hot as he went around the city stopping petty thefts. 

He had just finished handing a tabby cat back to a little girl and her mom when Ned informed Peter of a villain attacking the Met. 

He got there in record time, finding the strangest looking villain he had ever seen.

He wore a mostly white suit with a sky blue under shirt and metal mask that covered his entire face, bit that wasn't the strange part, no that was the massive set of limbs that he was on. Under his feet was a platform of sorts that moved the 2 massive legs beneath him, and coming from what looked like a console of sorts seemed to be 2 large joysticks that moves the 2 long arms. 

"Hey Metal Man, how about you stop attacking an innocent museum and get a normal day job like the rest of us." He yelled.

"Ironic Spidey considering that you spend most of your day swinging around in a onesie" he yelled back.

"Well you know what they say, it takes two to tango, so let's tango" Peter said while shooting a web at one of his upper appendages. 

"Get off me bug-boy" Metal Man cried while wildly shaking his metal arm, or as wildly as he could considering the size of it.

"If you're gonna insult me, at least do it right. Spiders are arachnids. Be creative, arachnid-arch foe, eight-legged enemy, something like that" he yelled slight annoyed.

"Says the one that called me Metal Man." 

"Listen, Bug-boy is literally all I hear, there's so many villains and only one of me, cut me some slack." He said swinging between the large metal limbs. His plan was working. Just a little longer.

After a few more moments of Metal Man trying to swat Peter, he finally latched onto a different building.

He watched in amusement as Metal Man tried following him and ended up getting tangled but his webs. 

He swung off to help out the other parts of the city once he heard the familiar sirens in the distance

After a few more hours, Peter called it a day and went home ready to start a new week.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, so an idea assaulted me while I was taking a shower today and it was time good not to use, so that's what's happening. I'm not too happy with the chapter itself though tbh, sorry about that. I might go back and edit it later, but you wont have to reread it to understand the next part of the story. It's probably just gonna be me fleshing out the chapter a bit more. Idk, sorry.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here we start to see where Peter and Tony's relationship at least start to develop, and also I start trying to show a certain character's personality a bit more clearly.

The rest of the week passed by as normal. Wake up, go to school, get beat up by the Flash Bandits (that only happened on Tuesday and Wednesdays because Flash found out that Peter had gotten a much higher test score then him), patrol for a few hours, do his homework and sleep. 

It had been peaceful week on all fronts. Even patrols had been pretty lax. Sure there was an apartment building on fire on Wednesday, but the firemen had it contained by the time he got there so all he had to do was get some people out in pretty limited fire and smoke. And there had been a mugger with a gun on Thursday, but he had managed to web him up before he even had time to fire a single shot.

Then came Friday. He had been looking forward to it all week. Even though MJ's suspicions kept making an appearance in his thoughts, he figured it was just her being a little bit too invested in true crime.

When he walked in, he was immediately waved over by Elenora. She gave him a hello and handed him his employee badge. Taking a deep breath he figured it was as good a time as any to see if MJ's claims had anything to back them up. 

Doing a quick scan of the card he found that where it said "Position" there was a colon and a blank space. 

"Ms Glint, I don't mean to be a bother," he started.

"You're not a bother at all Peter" she said cutting him off.

"But what exactly is my role here at SI. It's blank on the card."

"Ohhhh, that, see Dr Boonton filled out all the other paperwork but left that blank. I of course went to ask him, I even brought the page with me that he needed to fill out for that particular detail, but he said he was too busy to do it," she told him.

"Maybe MJ was right", he thought. But he wanted to trust the Dr so he decided to chalked it up to an honest mistake.

When he got to his office today, he found Dr Boonton already there.

"Peter, hello. Take a seat, we have some things we need to discuss," he said motioning towards one of the visitors chairs.

Peter immediately felt strangely light. Did he do something wrong, did he say something last time that had upset him. Did the Dr realize he made mistake by choosing Peter.

Once he sat down, he expectantly looked to Dr Boonton.

"Last week when you started talking about improvements for the Flood Vacuum, you seemed to be getting very ahead of yourself. You were suggesting things that while they seem good on the surface, are actually a lot more costly. You got the scientists very exited and I had to sit them down on Monday and explain all the reasons it wouldn't work. So this week when we go to another design meeting, I'd rather if you just watched. In fact, I don't want you saying anything at any design meetings for the time being. It's a lot more complicated then you seem to think it is."

He felt terrible. 

"I'm so sorry I never meant to do that, I was just thinking without thinking I guess." Peter said.

"I know you didn't, which is why I'm asking to you, just keep everything to yourself from now on hm" said Dr Boonton.

"My lips are sealed" said Peter miming a zipper over his mouth.

The day went a lot like the last one, he enjoyed it a lot. The only difference was that this time he wasn't looking forward to the design meeting.

********

This time, they were trying to think of a way to get drones into a warzone safely. The drones weren't dangerous, they were meant for supply drops. After all, the company no longer made weapons. These weren't going to be armed with anything more than to defend the supplies they carried. Mr Stark was there from the beginning this time. And all the same scientists from last time were there too. Peter just stood akwardly in the corner since he wasn't important enough to warrant at chair at the long table. There were assistants standing along the wall too, though most of them seemed to have something to do. Either typing away on their phones or taking notes about the meeting. One was even on a phone call via a Bluetooth earpiece. The meeting wasn't going very good, there was a lot of yelling and arguments as to how to best build the drones. Eventually though Mr Stark cleared his throat loudly enough that the other scientists in the room stopped talking (read: arguing) and looked directly at Peter.

"Why don't we hear what Peter has to say, he was brilliant last time," he said.

"Oh no sir, I don't think my ideas would work very well, they're probably too outlandish" said Peter immediately remembering what Dr Boonton had told him.

"Kid, listen, I literally built the mark 1 in a cave. This whole tower is fueled by crazy ideas. Fueled by one crazy idea in particular actually," he referencing the arc reactor.

"You've got the floor," he insisted when Peter didn't say anything.

All the scientists in the room stopped their arguing to look at him. He looked out of the corner of his eye and saw Dr Boonton giving a subtle shake of his head.

But Peter couldn't go against the wishes of Tony Stark. Even if their alter ego's were after eachother, they both had the interests of the people in mind doing that. So he let his ideas go.

"I think that something we could do is power them mini arc reactors, but have them subtly wrong. Maybe change a proportion to be good enough for a length of time. That way, every time they came back to us, we would know exactly how to fix it, it would really be more of maintenance work. But of the enemy got to it, they would be extremely confused if, they somehow managed to recreate it, as to why it's not working. And to best protect them, create a new radio frequency that way they would have a lot of trouble trying to take them from the air. As for them getting knocked down, with the reactors we could probably have them be in a formation and have them pass energy to eachother creating a sort of energy shield, though that can probably only be done for small projectiles," when he finished he was out of breath, but he was proud of it.

And clearly everyone else in the room thought the same because when they started clapping, it sounded like there was a football stadiums worth of people rather than a room of about 15.

"Kid, that's brilliant, everything. Though maybe we would be better off creating a new type of arc reactor. But other than that, and that's a very small problem that can be fixed with a little bit of tinkering, it all checks out," said Mr Stark already sounding like he was trying to put together a blue print in his head.

Peter looked down, blushing hard. 

************

The energy from the that meeting lasted all the way until the following Friday. 

This time, when he sat down in front of Dr Boonton, it went very differently than the last week.

"Peter, last week when I asked you to not say anything during the design meeting, I expected my request to be followed. But I had to sit down the scientists again to explain all the reasons it wouldn't work, you've once again managed to waste out valuable time." 

Peter slumped in his chair. But then he remembered something.

"Mr Stark said it might work though, he seemed pretty confident in that too."

"Mr Stark is quite the visionary, but unfortunately because of his lack of knowledge in the business side, he falsely encouraged you," He sat back and rubbed his head.

"Now unfortunately because of you actions these past few weeks, I'm going to have you stay in my office doing paperwork while I'm at the design meeting," he looked at Peter, almost challenging him to say something. 

Peter was shocked, sure he was expecting some form of repercussion, but not like this, but he couldn't do much so he nodded in defeat. 

Dr Boonton smiled a little when he slid over the stack of paperwork to him.

*******

Later as he sat in Dr Boonton's office sifting through paperwork, there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," he said

"Hi Peter," it was Mr Stark.

"Hi Mr Stark, umm, what are you doing here?" asked Peter.

"Well, we were in the meeting and honestly it was going terribly, so I asked Dr Boonton where you were, and he told me that you were doing some paperwork for him. I can't imagine why you would pick paperwork over the meeting so I figured I'd come and visit you," explained Mr Stark.

"After all, you are so much more interesting to listen too than anyone with a PhD."

"Oh, uh, Dr Boonton doesn't want me in meetings anymore. He told me that I didn't understand the business side of things so he's rather me not waste your time," Peter said embarrassed

Mr Stark looked a little lost at that.

"Kid, you're not wasting our time. In fact, all the improvements that you suggested are being worked on right now," said Mr Stark.

Peter was at a loss for words.

"But, but Dr Boonton said-"

"Clearly Dr Boonton doesn't know what he's talking about," said Mr Stark cutting him off.

"Now then, let's get to the meeting so we can make some actual progress" said Mr Stark already walking out the door. 

And as bad as Peter felt, he figured that Mr Stark out-ranked Dr Boonton considering he owned the company. So he did what anyone would do in his situation, he followed him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter feels kinda rushed but that's because I really wanted it to end up a certain point by the end. I'm pretty happy with the end product though. If anyone feels that maybe I'm progressing the sorry Tok quickly though, let me know and I'll try and fix the pacing.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a juicy chapter. Lots of feelings toward the end. Idk if I'm any good at writing that kind of stuff, but there was an attempt

He walked into the meeting room as silently as he could, unfortunately, Mr Stark had other ideas.

"Look who I found" said Mr Stark loudly as he walked into the room behind Peter.

The scientists stopped what they were doing and turned to look at him. He waved akwardly.

"Peter, you're back, we were really missing you" said one from the end of the table.

"Yeah, come on, take a seat, you've earned it" said another, patting the empty seat next to him.

He stood there, not used to the attention when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"See kid, they love you" said Mr Stark gently. "Now go on out there and be the genius I know you are" he said that last part loud enough that Dr Boonton heard him from the far side of the room. 

That was enough encouragement for Peter to go and sit down in the empty seat.

Immediately he was bombarded with questions as to how they could improve my the Flood Vacuum. 

Turns out they were hammering out the details today. 

He spent the hour talking design and possible power scources. It felt fantastic. 

Finally, as everyone was saying their good-byes, they asked him to become an honourary member of what they had dubbed 'Mr Starks Square Table'. They all found the irony go the table being a rectangle instead of square, but it rolled off the tongue better. 

As he was getting ready to walk out the door, Mr Stark stopped him. 

"Come into my office for a sec" 

Peter got worried, the last 2 times he had been called to someone's office, it hadn't been great a time for him. 

Once he was seated opposite from him, Mr Stark cut right to the chase.

"Listen, I didn't appreciate how Dr Boonton kept you in his office doing paperwork. In fact this whole thing with you being here is kinda shady. I had someone else have a look at his request pages while we were in the meeting. And he found that there was a ton of missing information and he completely by-passed the approval process. He just got it approved without going through some of the higher ups. You're not even legally supposed to be out of school right now."

Peter wasn't sure what to say. How was someone supposed to react to that. MJ was right. But what now. 

"But then I realized how much everyone here loves you. I went to Elenora to ask about the application pages you have here. And she thought that you had done sometime wrong and asked me to give you a second chance. And the scientists love you too. And I'm assuming that you also love it here too" he looked at Peter who immediately nodded.

"So I was thinking, maybe I could arrange a legit internship for you, with me" he looked at him very seriously. "But if you don't feel comfortable doing an internship here after that, if you ever apply for one, you can put me as a reference."

Peter was speechless, he had just gotten offered an internships with his childhood (and teen-hood) hero. He couldn't say no. This was going to be amazing. 

"Thank you Sir, I don't know what to say, I would love to have an internship with you. When would I start" Peter stumbles through the whole sentence and internally cringed. 

Mr Stark took it in stride.

"Well I'm glad you're so excited, but we're gonna be to go through a proper application process. Exept it's more of a background check. So maybe give it a week and a bit. All your papers are good. No changes there, but I've got to fill out the right pages, then we can get it started. 

"Ok, so I guess I should get home then" asked Peter.

"Yeah, I'll get my driver to take you home since I'm assuming you've missed your subway." he said.

"Ummm, no actually, I'm normally waiting for while, so I'll be on time" that was a lie, but Peter didn't want to explain everything to May just yet. Movie night was cancelled too, otherwise he probably would have taken him up on the offer. But Ned was sick and MJ felt like she was coming down with something.

"Ok kid, up to you. Get going though. Safe travels."

*********

When he got home, he listened from the doorway to see if May was home. She was. Thankfully he had texted her telling her he had missed the subway so she wouldn't be worried. He took a moment to prepare himself for the inevitable. Telling her what had happened. And then he turned the key. 

"Hey May" he said walking through the door.

"Hi honey. I'm making pasta. Give me a few minutes" she said in greeting.

He took a whiff of the he air. It actually smelled pretty good. Hopefully it stayed that way. 

As soon as they sat down, May said something be had been hoping to avoid for at least a few more hours.

"So I got a call from Pepper Potts today. She told me that apperantly what you've been doing over at Stark Industries has been illegal."

Peter couldn't help it when he started crying. It had been such a long day, with getting scolded by Boonton, being banished to the office during the design meeting, to Mr Stark telling him about the questionable legality of his presence at the tower. It all just came out.

"Oh sweetheart" she said getting up to comfort him.

"Its, been such a long day. And I-I love it there" he said through tears.

"Oh sweetheart, come here" she helped him stand up from the table and gently led him to the couch, dinner completely forgotten.

She sat them on the couch and held him while he cried. When he finds calmed down, he explained everything from the very beginning.

"But Mr Stark offered me a real internship" he said when he finally finished.

"That's great honey" there were tears in her eyes from when she had realized that her sweet little nephew who only ever wanted to help people had been taken advantage of. But she told Peter they were just leftover from her chopping the onions.

"I'm so proud of you. You got people with masters degrees, PhD's and Nobel prizes exited to listen to you" they sat there for a while. She held him protectively to her chest as if she could keep harm fork him for the rest of his life like that.

It was when Ben died that May realized that he was growing up. He had holed himself in his room for days. She had taken to leaving his meals outside his door for him. She always found the dishes cleaned and back in the cupboards the day after. But when he finally came out, he acted years older. When she noticed that, she wanted nothing more than to walk out onto the roof of the appartment building and scream at the stars. She wanted to ask the universe why it had to be Peter. Why did the universe have to quash his happiness, steal his childhood. That night, when she was sure that Peter was sleeping, she found herself on the roof. But not to scream like she had originally wanted to. But to promise herself and Peter that as long as there was air in her lungs, and love in her heart, she would be there for Peter. 

Eventually with enough time and subtle babying, she manages to get Peter to go back a little bit in maturity. He acted less like he held the weight of the world on his shoulders, and more like he was a weight on the world. He stated laughing again, he started building Legos with Ned again, he became the version of Peter that he needed to be for himself.

She felt like that again. He was out exploring now, figuring out his life, and as much as she wanted to, she couldn't protect him from heartbreak, or disappointment. And as much as she wishes she could, she couldn't be there to screen every person he decided to trust. He trusted people whole heartedly until they have him a reason not to. And even then, he would always try to see things from their perspective. And just like that night on the roof with the stars as her witness, she promised herself that she would be there for Peter. For as long as she could.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> May and Peter enjoy a day together. And one Peter gets back to school we see him mentally prepare himself to tell MJ that she was right all along. Then Ironman finds Spiderman to tell him some surprising things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to dedicate this chapter to Nyxwhoiscrazyforships for leaving the absolute best comment I've ever received. It's a very chill chapter, but things do happen that I don't feel guilty for how much doesn't happen. Also I'm sure when a really good cheaters gonna happen.

When Peter woke up the next day, he awoke to the smell of pancakes bacon and eggs. He spent a few minutes laying there on his bed enjoying the smell of breakfast before braving the cold and heading down the hall towards it. He found May flipping (or rather trying to) flip a pancake. But it looked like she had forgotten to grease the pan. Oh well, he found that of they were the perfect amount of burnt, that they actually tasted better. Though after he told her that, he could've sworn that May started burning the pancakes more often. At least they tasted good. 

"Hi sweetie, are you feeling better after last night?" He nodded sheepishly. He shouldn't be breaking down like that. He was 14. But May seemed to sense his thoughts.

"There's nothing wrong with crying the way you did last night. In fact, I would rather that happen then you bottling it up. If you do bottle it up, one day your gonna explode. It's like when you open a pop bottle. You twist open the cap just a little and wait for the excess gas to escape before opening all the way. If you didn't let it escape, it would come all at once and there's no way you can control it, all you can do is wait for it to make its great escape and hope that the clean up isn't too bad" she said turning off the stove to give him a hug.

"Thanks May, I love you" he really was grateful that even though he didn't really have a mother, he had a mom in every sense of the word. 

Saturday had long since been declared Parkerday. Since Peter had first come into May and Ben's costudy. It always changed what they were doing, but lately with Ben gone, they usually only got 1 or 2 Saturdays free a month, so they found something easy fun and low prep to do. So, lately, every Saturday that May had free, they had their routine. Wake up, breakfast and Peter favorite part: fill up a wicker basket with sandwiches, a thermos of soup and head off to Central Park for a picnic. But they cheated and bought sandwiches from Delmar's. 

Once they finished making the soup (broccoli cheddar was the soup de jour) they went to Delmar's to pick up 4 sandwiches. After that they went to catch the subway. 

Along the way, Peter told May more about what had gone on with Boonton. May wasn't happy and told him that he needed to tell her these things as they were happening so she could be there for him.

The park was beautiful. Under the late September sun it shone like a new coin. 

The afternoon was good. And by the end of it, Peter felt refreshed and ready to tackle the upcoming week. 

When they got to their street the sun had started to set and the evening chill had set in. They pulled there sweaters closer and they hurried down the block.

Once they made it inside they Peter out the popcorn in the pot and May set up the movie. They ended up watching Jurassic Park.

*******

On Monday, Peter texted Ned that he had something to tell him and wanted to meet him at his locker. When he finally got there, he wanted to get it over with fast. So he told him quickly and quietly as he was grabbing his things. Ned looked shocked at first, then sympathetic.

"At least you're getting a real internship now" he said in consolation. 

"Yeah, at least I have that.

At lunch he took his time getting lunch not wanting to see MJ's "I told you so" face. But he knew once he put his fruit cup on his lunch tray, that that time was coming a lot faster than he would like. Eventually he sat down but he found MJ looking at him with sympathy. He was confused for a minute until he saw Ned's guilty face. He glared at him and he just shrugged.

"I know you didn't really want to tell her so I told her for you" he said by way of explanation. 

Peter sighed internally, it was true, he didn't realize want to tell her. But he also didn't want MJ seeing him as someone who needed their hand held. He wanted to impress her. Wait, why did he want to do that. 'Because she doesn't seem like someone who gets impressed easily' said a voice in his head. There was a stronger louder voice that told him something different but he chose to ignore that. 

Lunch went well after that. MJ and Ned told him he could pick the movie for the next Friday since they had both bailed. 

After school he went patrolling again. It felt good. Swinging around the city focusing on other people helped him forget the entirely of last week's fiasco. Until it happened. 

Ned had left to do his homework so he decided to take a quick break. He was in a rooftop, which seemed to be the best place to truly take a break. Until lately it seemed. 

He watched as Ironman flew below the building with a white flag sticking from up his helmet.

"TinCan, are we calling a truce on the whole spider hunt. Maybe you realized your mistake in trying to catch me and are here to make amends" he said all this with bite behind the words not expecting anything.

"Actually, yes. I've done some looking. Read police reports, watched the news, had an actual look at The Web, that fan blog that's dedicated to you. And, now listen closely because I've only ever said this one other time in my life, but, I realized that I was wrong about you. You're a decent guy. And I would actually like to call a truce."

Peter was speechless. He said that all sarcastically. He was about to hold out his hand to shake on it when he thought of something.

"Is this a trap, if I agree, is there some loophole that's gonna get me arrested. If I shake on it, will you pull a fast one" he asked. 

Tony took off the faceplate and looked at him, really looked at him.

"Spidey, listen, I know I started out my attacking you, and that's on me. And if you agree, it's more of a moral thing. I let you keep your secret identity on the small clause that if something ever happens that we need you for, you come give us a hand. And that doesn't mean fighting aliens next time they come to New York. But that could just be getting civilians to safety while we just do some defense before we get to the offense, or if you're interested, maybe the odd Avenger mission. What do you say?" He held out his hand to shake.

Peter thought it over, and realized that it was a pretty good deal. In fact Tony was the only person losing something. He didn't get his identity. 

He stuck out his hand and gave it a few quick pumps. Then his faceplate came down again and the white flag retracted. Peter was worried for a sec that he would try something, but he ended up flying up and waving.

All in all, it wasn't that bad of a Monday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You'll notice me making a slight distinction in narrating Peter's internal dialogue when he's Spiderman. As Peter I'm gonna try to keep it 'Mr Stark' but as Spidry, I'm trying to say 'Tony'. This is to represent the very different relationship that his alter ego has. Peter has more respect, whereas Spiderman, still has respect for him but since their relationship is very fragile needs to speak as an equal with him. Eventually once Tony finds out that their one in the same, I will also start narrating them ad the same. This was probably super confusing but I wanted to explain my thinking.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter eagerly awaits an email from Pepper Potts and Ned is a good bro.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is dedicated to xiu for making my day with their really sweet comment. (Hopefully this chapter isn't late)😁

Tuesday morning Peter woke up nervous. He had gotten an email on Sunday from Pepper Potts telling him to expect an update on the whole internship front on Tuesday. And she was also going to video chat him tonight. Good thing he could still remember his old Skype password. 

He walked out the door having skipped breakfast due to the nerves. The weather wasn't helping. It was the kind of day that you could practically feel the rain, but you didn't know when it was going to fall. That made him feel like he was waiting for more than just an email. When he got to school Ned was already waiting for him.

"When are you supposed to get the email" Ned asked as soon as Peter was close enough. 

"Sometime before school ends I think" he responded. 

As he grabbed his things from his locker he kept checking his phone, eventually Ned decided that enough was enough.

"Give me your phone" he said holding our his hand.

"I- what" 

"Your never gonna be able to focus on anything if you keep his checking your phone every 2 seconds. I promise I'll check your emails for you and answer May's texts. But you'll be a lot calmer if you don't have your phone on you. Out of sight out of mind and all that" he explained hand still out in front of him.

Peter hesitated for a second before shoving his phone into Ned's waiting hand.

"Thanks, that actually helps a lot. But you have to promise to check my emails at least between periods" he told him.

"I'm only doing what you would do for me," Ned said sincerely.

Peter smiled, the two of them really were quite the pair.

Once he handed Ned his phone, he immediately felt clamer. Especially since he knew that if Ned saw the email before him and it wasn't good, that he would let him down gently. 

The only time he really noticed it was gone was when he finished his English assignment early, but be ended up just reading the rest of the period. 

Finally it was lunch time. He got his food quickly before making his wat to the table. MJ was already there eating her sandwich.

He could feel her watchful gaze as he sat down. She was clearly deciding how she would say something to him. With MJ it was never a question of would she say something, but how would she say it. She settled for blunt. 

"I don't want to get all down on you Parker, but what if it happens again" she looked him right in the eyes when she said this. And while it looked intimidating, he saw the sincererity behind the statement, "what if you get used again, maybe as a front to get him more money, or maybe their gonna take advantage of that brain of yours. I just don't think you should dive into something like this barely a week since all that went down." 

"Pepper Potts is setting it all up for me. And I've heard you talk about her, so I'm pretty sure I'm in good hands.

Her entire demeanor changed completely. Her suspicion melted away into happiness. It was strange to see MJ so happy, but he felt his heart warm up at the sight. And seemingly out of of no where the sun peaked from behind the clouds, hitting her perfectly. Her brown hair glowed gold where the light hid it.

"Peter!" He was awoken firm his daydreaming by Ned yelling his name from across the cafeteria. 

He watched as his friend made his way through he mess of tables and chairs. 

When he finally sat down he immediately fished Peter's phone from his bag. 

"She emailed you. I haven't read it yet, but based on the preview it looks like it's good news" he said excitedly.

Peter immediate unlocked his phone and opened the Gmail app. He opened the first email. Which was a promotion from his favorite shoe store. He clicked off and found that email he wanted in the first place.

Dear Peter. It's been a busy few days, but Tony finally gave me his application pages. I have just finished looking through them. Now because of what you experienced with Andrew Boonton, I was able to fast track the approval process, and I must say it's looking very good for you. Now, I completely understand if you can't make it, but please make sure that your aunt had access to the Skype account you gave me, and that she's free tonight at 7:15 so she can take my call. 

Pepper Potts  
CEO of Stark Industries

Peter officially couldn't wait for the day to be over. He needed to get home.

Thankfully the rest of the day passed by quickly after that. And before he knew it, he was getting ready for a few hours of patrol. 

"Ready dude" he asked Ned one he had geared up. 

"Ready dude" Ned confirmed. Peter could hear the gentle hum of the different trackers, scanners and whatever other things Ned had running for his patrols thanks to his enhanced hearing. It comforted him knowing that he had someone that cared about about him to create enitre computers and programs in a matter of days to weeks, all with the goal of keeping him safe. 

The next 2 hours were filled with phrases like "Robbery on 5th", "cat stuck in a tree on the south side of central" and "bike robber by the corner site 2 blocks from you".

It was Peter's favourite time, times like these when they settled into a rhythm and helped a ton of people. A time where the suit became not only a figurehead of saftey for the people of New York, but also a refuge for him. Where he could escape and become the very best version of himself possible.

When he got home to dinner, he was practically shaking in his seat from excitement. May was the same way, but a little more put together. 

Finally after a soup peppered with bits of char (Peter didn't even want to know how May managed to burn soup of all things) they set up his laptop on the coffee table with them on the couch waiting for the call. 

Finally after what seemed like an eternity (though it was only a few minutes) the familiar jingle ran through the apartment. He quickly clicked accept. While the video loaded he ran a hand through his hair making sure it didn't look like an absolute disaster. 

"Peter, Ms Parker hello" she said pleasently. 

"Hello Ms Potts, and please, call me May" greeted May.

"Then that's Pepper to you" she said with a smile. 

"Pepper then" said May with a small laugh.

"So, in regards to Peter's internship. Me and Tony were reviewing some of the footage from the meetings that Peter attended, and after consulting with some other heads of departments, and even some of his teachers, and we all think that a hands on internship with Tony is best. That and because that's what Tony promised him, and I don't feel like breaking that one. However, it is a lot more dangerous working with him than anywhere else in the tower. He's got his personal lab see. And he regularly manages to blow it up and start fires, but there are a lot more safety features and protocols in place because of that also. Are you ok with Peter being in type of environment."

May looked thoughtful for a minute. 

"You emailed me earlier saying that you were willing to set up 2 days a week after school from 3-8 or even to 9 if we were willing, correct" she asked.

That's the idea, Tony seems particularly exited for Peter to be working with him. I believe his exact words were "Pep, listen to me, I don't even think I could have thought about those ideas. I want to be there when he finds a way to save the world." It was nice seeing him so excited" she said chuckling. 

"I'm happy that your willing to give Peter this opportunity. But can you give him maybe an hour to hour and a half to get himself some dinner around 6. I know that that's cutting a fair chunk of time from working, but I would like him to be able to eat something before he gets home" May requested.

Pepper looked at her confused for a minute. But then she had a look of understanding on her face.

"Peter can have dinner for us. I know that that's probably weird. But Tony's never taken a personal intern before and he seems to genuinely like Peter. And asking a few other SI employees that Peter talked with. And they all seemed to love him. And since Peter and Tony are going to be spending so much time together, it would be nice for them to have a chance to get to know eachother in a low stress environment, like the dinner table. And really, it's no problem. We eat dinner too after all.

May considered this for a second before agreeing. 

"Thank you, that means a lot to me. I didn't really want him to be finding a reasonably priced restaurant in your area."

One more thing before I go. Did you want to press charges against Andrew Boonton. We could do it on Peter's behalf if you would rather. Thanks to this whole thing, we've found that he's been doing a lot more than fast passing approval processes"

"Please, I don't want him to be able to do what he did to Peter at a different company" she told her.

The rest of the call was about legistics, a virtual tour of the top floor of the tower where he would be eating dinner. They had a talk about how if he wanted, he could take a half hour for homework. And by the end, Peter was officially interning for Mr Stark every Wednesday and Friday. 

Yeah, it was a good day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized that I made Ned a bit more of a parent type figure then he actually is/normally portrayed a few chapters ago, but I needed to have someone who Peter trusts reigning him in without being pushy or trying to lord over him like a parent might. And Ned was the perfect candidate. So sorry if this annoys anyone.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flash beats up Peter, MJ and Ned step up and are the best friends possible and Peter finally gets day at the internship.

The next morning when Peter woke up he was ecstatic. It was Wednesday, his first official day of the internship. He was trying to figure out if he could squeeze in a half hour of patrol time before he had to be at the tower last night, but had ultimately decided against it. 

When he walked out of the building, the weather was perfect. It had ended up raining late last night so the world was brighter. The smells of wet pavement and earth invaded his nostrils. It was perfect. Even the sun was shining. So with a spring in his step, and plenty of time left, he decided to walk to school. 

When he got there, Ned was waiting by the doors. Peter was worried until he saw that he was holding a plastic bag of cookies. Sweet. They were probably his moms cookies, and in Peter's humble opinion, Mrs Leeds made the absolute best cookies on the planet. Sure enough, they were cookies. What a great way to start his day.

In his first period class it was just a work period for him to work on an upcoming project, so he put on his tunes and worked diligently. These were down of his favorite periods. They were eventually the ones that he would be forgotten about. But in the moment, they were incredible. Just being able to lose himself in his work and his thoughts, with the occasional word from OneRepublic breaking through his thoughts. Though at one point his mind wandered to what would happen if Mr Stark found out about his alter ego, thankfully though, he got a word of wisdom from his music. I Lived came on. "I hope that when you take that jump, you don't fear the fall". And Peter felt that in the core of his being. He couldn't be scared of the outcome. He just had too hope that it would all turn our okay in the end. But the song had more to say "the only way you can know, if you have it all you have". His motivation levels skyrocketed. He was ready to do whatever he needed to do to. But then he heard one more line that nearly had him in tears. "And when that sun goes down, I hope you raise your cup". He needed all this to work in his favour. He was ready to tackle whatever challenges the internship might bring.

After that boost of motivation he got through the next period without any hassle. Then lunch came.

He was still riding off his morning high when Flash found him. He was heading towards his the lunch line when he was stopped.

"Parker, where do you think your going. You missed a lot of Fridays lately, and I don't think it's very fair to the rest of us that you just miss school like that scott-free" he said menacingly. 

He felt a hand wrap around his upper arm and yank him towards the doors. He tried getting out of it, but he was careful not to over do it. 

Flash lead him outside where his group was and handed him off to someone else. 

He had his arms pinned behind him whole he felt pairs of fists hammered into his stomach and ribs. It was painful. They kept going at him, until a loud snap was heard. The guy who had his arms dropped him and everyone ran. Peter ended up the ground, in serious pain. He groaned and decided that he would sit there until his healing kicked in at least a little bit. He hoped he wouldn't have to miss his next class

He didn't know how long he sat there when he heard footsteps approaching.  
He looked up and saw Ned and MJ coming towards them. They got down beside him.

"What happened, we watched Flash drag you out of the cafeteria and they just walked in without you" asked Ned.

"They just beat me up a little. It wasn't that bad."

MJ raised her her eyebrows at that. 

"Is there any reason that you've decided to stay out here then, if it wasn't that bad". The look on her face told Peter not to lie.

"I think my ribs may be broken" he admitted. 

Peter was sure that fire in MJ's eyes could have made a can of gasoline combust if she decided to so much as glance at one. 

"Dude, that's not ok, you've got to tell someone. They can't keep doing that to you, or anyone else" Ned said already feeling his rib-cage having done this a few times for him. Though he had yet to break a rib. 

"Yeah, that a broken rib" he said when Peter winced as he felt one move slightly. 

"It should only take a few hours to heal anywa-" he whipped his head to look at MJ.

"I mean, I've heard that broken ribs are some of the fastest healing injuries" he said with a bit of desperation.

"I know your Spiderman" she told him.

"Oh..." 

"Yeah, you aren't very good at hiding it" she pointed out.

Ned produced a compression bandage from his bag and wrapped it around his torso. Making it tightest around the broken rib.

They helped him get to his next class, and since he shared it with MJ, she kept close to him. Then she handed him off to Ned for his next class. 

Finally the end of the day came. He walked out of class with Ned ready for his first day of the internship. But Ned had other ideas. His ideas entailed telling someone (preferably a teacher) about Flash. They stood in the hallways for a few minutes arguing and MJ even helped him. Eventually Peter pointed out that his ribs had pretty much healed by now and that it would be suspicious if he told someone and they wanted him to get an x-ray as proof and his rib healed by then. 

He went on and boarded the subway. Unfortunately he arrived late. When he eventually arrived, he saw Mr Stark waiting for him outside the glass doors.

"Mr Stark, I'm so sorry, the subway took so long. I'll try and find a father way to get here" he said immediately thinking of his web-shooters. 

"Don't worry about it kid, I'll get my driver to pick you up" he said.

"I'm sure he has better things to do this drive me" he reasoned.

"Nonsense, he might be head of security, but I still have him drive me places, I'm sure he won't mind. clearly he wasn't going to budge on this.

"Ok...if your sure"Peter said conceding. 

"Great now let's head up. Now since your going to be being picked up you'll come through the garage through the direct access elevator. But if for whatever reason you come by alone just walk up to the elevator bay in the back and Friday will open up the private one. For now I'll give you access to the penthouse and the lab, though I have a feeling you'll eventually have access to the whole tower" he said finishing his sentence with a wink.

"Thank you sir, this is honestly amazing" Peter said.

"None of that "sir" stuff. It makes me feel old".

"If the shoe fits, wear it" Peter said letting his alter ego take over.

"Why you little-" he cut himself off laughing. 

"Kid, your going to fit in just right" he told him chuckling. 

He first took Peter to the penthouse. He told him that if he was ever hungry he just had to ask Friday to bring him up here, and he was welcome to eat anything that wasn't labeled.

The he showed him the lab. They spent a few minutes going through what everything did and how to use it safely.

"This is a lot more than your typical highschool lab, even a school as fancy as yours. So Pep convinced me to print out and laminate safety reminders for everything. I'd rather not have instructions on how to use it next to it because reading things doesn't always make sense" he pulled out a laminated sheets with a bunch of do's and don'ts on it.

For the next few hours Mr Stark gave Peter demonstrations on his to use all the different things in the room and have Pete replicate it. It was a successful few hours. 

He had to leave early because May was getting home early and she had night shifts lined up for the rest of the week and he wanted to spend some time with her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> K, so, in the original version of this chapter, MJ roasted Peter so hard. It was when she told him that she knew that he was Spiderman she said "on the bright side, all your friends are right here so there's no one else that could possibly figure out your identity" I love it but the mood wasn't quite right for that roast. But I couldn't not share it, so it's become and end note.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter gets his first real day with Mr Stark. And Peter has a good time with his friends.

The next few days went pretty good. Flash and his group stayed away from him. But Peter was sure that that wouldn't last. On Thursday Peter settled on Star Wars. When MJ heard, he rolled her eyes and smiled. That made Peter oddly happy. When Ned found out, he looked about ready to start jumping up and down. After all, they were their favorite movies.

Friday things were back to normal. The Flash Bandits cornered him by his locker and he got a couple threats and a quick but painful punch to the shoulder before they left him again. Peter didn't mind, not really. Better him than someone else, someone who didn't have super human strength. Plus, it was Friday, he was going back to the tower tonight, nothing could sour his mood. He had another work period in first. He chilled to his tunes. Today the song that stuck out to him was Centuries. It just had a sweet beat. And it made him thoughtful for the future. 

MJ had seen Flash and the others corner him that morning, so she was waiting for him by the doors so she could fend off Flash. She was the only person who Flash seemed to stand down too.

Ned was already there when they finally got their food. The three of them started taking about the weekend plans. They had decided that they wanted to try out doing something as a group. Ok, really it was more Peter and Ned deciding that they needed to do something with all three of them, and then roping MJ into it. She had been extremely reluctant. Actually, the word reluctant was a bit of an understatement. It had taken weeks of convincing and bribing her with her favorite movie snacks. But she finally relented. The conversation turned to the possibility of either going bowling, going to see a movie, or going to the arcade. Eventually the movie won out. It was the cheapest and also according to MJ "the least bond forming and low effort activity". 

When the bell ring they headed off to their respective classes. Peter spent his afternoon classes trying to figure out a fun project to do. Mr Stark had told him last time that he wanted Peter to think of something that would require some of some of the tech in the lab. One that they could do together so Peter could both get comfortable with the different machines, but also him. He still didn't know what he wanted to do. 

The final bell rang before Peter could think of an idea. He was heading off towards station when he heard the car he was passing honk. He looked and saw a black Audi with a slightly grumpy looking driver in it. He motioned impatiently for Peter to get in. Peter stood there for a few seconds unsure of what to do. Apparently it was a few seconds too long because he rolled down the window.

"Peter Parker" he yelled.

"Uh, yeah, that's me" Peter said stuttering a bit.

"Happy Hogan, head of security at Stark Industries, and for some reason, your driver" he said in introduction.

"Now get in, I've just gotten a call about some trouble up at the tower" he said clearly unhappy about his new position.

Peter got in without further comments. The ride was silent, despite Peter's best attempts of getting a conversation going. Eventually be just gave up and accepted the uncomfortable quiet. 

When they pulled into the garage he thanked Happy before making a mad dash to the elevator. With his hearing he heard Happy mutter something about this being below his pay-grade. 

"Hello Peter, Boss had requested that I take you up to penthouse" said Friday.

"Thanks Friday" 

When he got up there, he saw that the dining table that he had seen from Ms Potts tour had been covered with several sheets of blueprint paper. Mr Stark was sitting at the table facing the eleveator. He smiled when he saw Peter walk in. 

"Hey kid, so I figured we'd sit here to day and start working on the blueprints for our first project" he said holding out few white pencils with varying degrees of sharpness.. 

"Although, remember these plans can change at any point, in fact I find that I rarely stick to the original plan," he continued.

Peter felt uncomfortable, he had been racking his brain all week but hadn't been able to think of anything.

"Sir, I haven't been able to think of anything, sorry" Peter admitted sheepishly.

"Even better, now you won't be disappoint if you aimed too high for your first one, though you would have to want to build a rocket to aim too high" he said chuckling a bit. 

"What's the hardest part of your day" Mr Stark asked a few minutes later our of no where. 

"Waking up" Peter responding the only way he knew how, with Gen Z humour.

"Could you think of anything that might help with that" asked Mr Stark.

Peter thought for a moment, while he had said that jokingly, the way he might answer Ned. He realized that it really wasn't very smooth. He remembered reading something about how it was best to wake up at the end of your REM cycle. 

"Maybe we could build a bot that constantly monitors where you are in the REM cycle. You could set the time for the time you absolutely must be up and it could wake you up at the time closest to that at the end of the cycle" he suggested. 

Mr Stark looked thoughtful at that.

"Ya know kid, that's actually brilliant. We could make some sensors to attach to pulse points to make it even more personalized. Maybe a button that you could push to let the bot know your officially trying to sleep".

They spent the next 30 minutes talking about it would work and the different components of it. They decided that an app would be good, but to limit how often you could open it so people wouldn't be able to stress over the numbers. 

Finally they busted out the white pencils. They decided on the size would be a bit bigger than your typical digital clocks. Needless to say, it would have a clock on the front. It came with electrodes that used a paste that dissolved in water to put over your points and over the diaphragm. They also agreed that if it worked correctly it shouldn't take too much to wake you up. They decided that they would try it some gentle slow classical music. It felt freeing to just be brainstorming and tossing ideas around like that. 

When Ms Potts came home she reprimanded Mr Stark for not feeding Peter earlier. She was in a good mood so she made then some Alfredo Fettuccine for dinner. It was a bit weird to start off. But they were much more open to conversation then Happy. 

"Peter, please, call me Pepper. I'm surrounded by people who always need something from me who call me Ms Potts. So please, it's Pepper" she pleaded. 

"Ok...Pepper" the name felt strange on his tongue since he was used to calling people of authority by their proper title.

"Great so it's Pepper and Tony right kid" interjected Mr Stark.

"Ok Mr Stark" Peter said letting Spiderman take over.

The rest of dinner went well, they kept working for a bit longer and eventually Peter had to go home.

On the way, he got a call from MJ saying that she was being forced to visit her grandma this weekend and they would have to cancel. He told her that if was fine and they would just have to do it next week.

When he got to the apartment he excitedly told May about the project they had settled on. 

That night Peter dreamt of building wacky contraptions in the lab with Mr Stark. That really was more than just a dream though, it would hopefully soon become a reality.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, in like 3 chapters, it's gonna get really exciting. So I'm exited. I wasn't to crazy about the last chapter, but I'm honestly in love with this one. Though I feel like I'm developing Peter and Tony's relationship a little bit too quickly so I might try and slow it down a bit. Thanks for reading.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one's kinda just a filler, sorry. Development does happen though, and there's a bit of foreshadowing of what's to come.

He felt the wind through his mask. He reached the peak of his swing, just letting go of the previous web. He waited as time slowed down ever so slightly, eyeing his next target, the tall appartment a few buildings down, he waited until the perfect moment and let loose another one. It was the perfect Tuesday.

He felt safer now that Ironman had agreed to not bother him and Ned had set up the tech so he could avoid the police. He felt like he had to whole city to himself. The city felt like it was a part of him. The Web cemented this sentiment. He had checked earlier that day and saw that there was a new section. It was a timeline listing all the milestones on his journey so far. His first sightings, his various suit models, his first time out of Queens. All the way until recently when he and Ironman made contact that first time. Peter felt appreciated. The section ended off by saying that they were proud to have Spiderman as their hero and that New York would be with him. 

If only the muggers and petty criminals of the city agreed. He got insults from them on a daily basis, but at this point, he found them more amusingly than anything else. 

The day went smoothly. A churro from an old lady he helped across the street. A quick mugging, and he even managed to stop a drug deal without any violence. 

When he finally got home. May wasn't back yet, which meant that Peter had full reign of the kitchen. Whenever he offered to cook, May told him that he needed to focus more on his studying and let her be the adult. But he really enjoyed cooking. And he was actually good at it. No offense to May though.

He was in the mood for pasta. He opened the cupboard and saw the package of pasta, but then his eyes fell on the pasta flour. He had fallen down a rabbit hole of Gordon Ramsay a few weeks ago, which had lead him to find How to Basics video on how to make pasta. He loaded up the video, and decided on Fettuccine. He prepped his flour volcano and the old pasta presser that May had gotten as a wedding gift. She never used it anyways. 

As he sent the dough through the roller he thought 'am I How to Basic'. Laughing he shook his head and continued making his pasta. He had just finished making dinner when he heard May come in.

"Peter, it smells amazing" she said walking in to give him a kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks May, here let me get you some" he told her.

He had his back to her when he heard her gasp.

"Did you make this...by hand" 

"I, uhhh, yeah, is that ok" he asked nervously. 

Her answer was to tackle him into a hug. 

When she let him go, he saw that there were tears in her eyes. 

"May, are you ok" he asked. 

"I'm fine, it's just, you're growing up and I can't stop it. I still remember when you needed a step-stool with a few books stacked on to even get your head over the counter" she said wiping her tears.

This time it was Peter tackling May in a hug. They stayed that way for a few minutes before sitting down to eat the Fettuccine. 

******

At school the next day he spent all day sketching designs for the alarm clock. He also asked his biology teacher more about the REM cycle. Flash stopped him in the hallways between fourth and fifth period and gave him a quick punch to the jaw for being "a massive stuck up" and accused him of buttering up his teachers for better grades. It left a sizable bruise. Luckily he had started carrying around concealer for any visible bruises he got from patrol. After dashing to the bathroom and applying a thin coat, he went back to class.

Finally the last bell rung and he found Happy's car in the parking lot, same place as last week. He got in and once again tried starting a conversation with Happy. But just like last week, it failed almost instantly. He gave up and spent the rest of the ride in silence.

Finally the pulled up to the tower. He got out and headed to the elevator. Friday brought him right up to the lab where Mr Stark was waiting for him.

"Hey kid, so Pep gave me a bunch of paperwork and basic threatened to lock me out of the lab if I don't finish this by tomorrow. So I'll take another hour here, then we can continue on clock" he told him. 

"Ok umm, that's fine" he said unsure of what he should do while he waits.

He eventually decided to start on his chemistry homework. He picked a comfy looking part of the floor by the door and started working. It didn't feel to great on his back, but he didn't feel comfortable enough to go up to the penthouse alone. 

About 10 minutes later he heard Mr Stark shuffling around.

"Kid, why are you on the floor" he heard him ask.

"I don't really want to go up to the penthouse right now" he explained looking up at him.

Mr Stark looked at him confused for a second before a look of realization dawned on his face.

"Kid, did I not tell you? I set you up a little work station. It's not too fancy right now, but we can get you whatever materials you need when you start doing more stuff on your own" he told him.

Peter felt excited at the prospect of having a space in Tony Stark's personal lab. He walked over to where Tony had pointed him to. 

Mr Stark had much higher standards than Peter. His 'little' workstation was a large desk with a pencil holder full of the good yellow pencils and white pencils for blueprint paper. On the side of the desk were stacks of standard printer paper, lined paper, and blueprint paper. In the drawers he found binders, notebooks, sticky notes, label stickers, permanently markers, erasers and paperclips. On the desk there were small compartments with removable labels and more supplies. 

"You can organize that anyway you like, or don't" he chuckled at that last part.

They both got it their respective work. Peter finished his chemistry and ended up pulling out his web formulas. He was currently working on taser webs, but first he needed to come up with a formula that would conduct electricity. The current formula actually insulated from electricity which for the most part was useful, but he and Ned had found an old taser in a dumpster last week and were trying to make taser webs so he could disable more dangerous people. So he needed to figure out how to keep the stretchyness and strength, but also completely pull a complete 180° on one of the main qualities of the webs. It was quite the conundrum. What he really needed was to basically re-design them. He figured that since these were probably to disable opponents to an extreme degree (whole still being humane), that he could sacrifice some of the strength and some of the stretchyness. But even with that, he couldn't afford to make them any less sticky. Just in case.

"What's that for" asked Mr Stark from behind him.

Peter immediately closed the notebook and looked up at him scrambling for an excuse.

"My chemistry teacher gave us a kind of challenge thing. I was just working on it. It's worth a couple of bonus points in the next test" he lied. 

Mr Stark looked at him weirdly for a minute.

"That looked pretty advanced for a freshman chemistry class. I couldn't even tell what it's supposed to be" he said.

"That's why they're bonus points" he 'explained'. 

"Ok..."

"Should we get out the blueprints from last time" asked Peter.

"Right, let's get on it".

They spent the entire afternoon after that working on it. At 6 they went up to the penthouse to eat dinner with Pepper. She had made some tomato soup today. It tasted amazing. 

He got a little on his face and wiped it off using the fancy cloth napkins that Mr Stark owned. A few seconds later he looked up from his soup to find Mr Stark and Pepper staring at him.

"Peter," Pepper began, "where did that bruise come from."

Peter felt his face heat up. He had completely forgotten about the bruise. He figured that his healing would have taken care of it by now. 

"I tripped...?" 

Mr Stark's face changed instantly. The way looked at him told him to lie. Still Peter didn't want to tell the truth.

"I did" he defended.

Pepper gave him a look that asked the truth, that asked not to be lied to. And that was what broke Peter. She was like May in that if you lied, you would face her wrath.

He looked down at his lap and muttered "I got punched". 

He could practically feel their shock. 

"And that happens often enough that you have concealer for it" Pepper asked, her voice gentle yet he could her her simmering below the surface.

Peter looked at his napkin where along with the red from the soup, there was a skin coloured streak.

"Yeah, I guess it does" Peter mumbled. Although he kept it around for the muggers and low-lifes of the city, he would be lying if he said he'd never needed it to cover up a few hits from Flash. The days following tests were always particularly bad.

"Sweety, that's not ok, you know that right" Pepper asked.

"I know, but there's not much I can do. Besides, better me than someone else" Peter said.

"Pete, kid, no. It's not better you than someone else. You're not some secretly beefy kid that hides under over-sized hoodies. You're just a normal kid" Mr Stark told him. "And even if you were, it still wouldn't make it ok". 

When Peter said nothing but squirmed in his chair, he heard Mr Stark sigh.

"I'll give May a call. It's for your own good Peter. 

They spent the rest of dinner in an uncomfortable silence. Once they got the lab though, they went back to how it was before.

Thankfully when Peter got home that night, May was still at work so he was able to avoid another uncomfortable talk. 

He went to sleep that night thinking of his webs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyy. Sorry it's been a while. But I finally started school again (online ofc) and I needed find my flow again. I keep talking about how I'm planning for chapter 18 and how exited I am for it, and now I'm worried that I'm over hyping it and it's gonna fall flat. Anyways, leave any feedback in the comments and to the person who I told that a new chapter would be out a few days ago, I'm really sorry, I feel bad. But on top of school starting up again, I literally just didn't feel like writing. Don't get me wrong, I love doing this,, but I just didn't have the motivation this past week. Happy Easter everyone.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is some fun fluff and Peter just overall enjoying life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyy, so I think it was a few days ago, but the sorry hit 100 kudos. I just want to give a huge thank you to anyone who has read, kudos'd or commented on this story. I started this way back in October in class because I was getting bored one day. I wrote and posted a few other chapters the following days then abandoned this story until March. And the reason I started writing again was because someone found the story, and left a Kudos, and that made me feel ready good, and here we are. I now have a genuine plan for where I'm going, and I have the time now too because of quarantine.

The rest of the week passed without too much else happening. When he told Ned about his workstation in the lab, and he freaked out. It felt good. When he got home from school on Monday he found May already home. He didn't really question it too much. He went over to the table where she was sitting and found her staring at a white envelope with the hospitals official seal.

"What's in there May" he asked.

She looked up at him with a nervous smile.

"Peter," she began, "do you remember when I applied for the nurses conference over in Boston?"

"Yeah" he said his voice going up a little.

"I think that this is it" she carefully. 

The conference was a place that nurses could come together to exchange stories and listen to more prominent people in the field. May had always wanted to go. But she had never had enough money. Thankfully her hospital had a program to pay for a few of the nurses trips. But unfortunately Parker Luck™ persisted though and the hospital had rejected every application of hers so far. 

But the envelope in front of them looked different than all the others. It was thicker for one. And it seemed to be able to fit more. Like maybe a plane ticket and and itinerary. 

They both stayed where they were. Not wanting to open the envelope in case it was a rejection letter. 

Finally Peter decided he had enough and grabbed the envelope and the letter opener May had obviously gotten out and shoved them into her hands.

She looked at him and when he gave a an encouraging nod of her head, she took a deep breath and opened the envelope in one quick motion.

She is reached her hands in and pinched the contents. And out came a small glossy brochure and a copy of her application that had been stamped with a large green 'approved'.

They looked at each-other before grabbing each-other into a hug and dancing around the kitchen. 

After they settled down they went off to their favorite Thai place to celebrate.

Once they got their larb, they had a more serious talk. She looked at the itinerary for a few moments.

"This is happening this weekend, will you be ok staying home alone" she asked.

"May, I'm 14, I can take care of myself" he said thinking of his alter ego and the amount of muggers he took on most days. 

She didn't look very convinced of that.

"The only reason I was comfortable applying all the years before was because Ben would be home. But, he's not anymore..." tears formed in her eyes.

"He would have been so proud of you" Peter said coming over to her side of the table to give her a hug. 

When he told Ned the next day he was excited for May. May saw Ned almost the same way she saw Peter. 

"May wanted to check if I could stay at your place this weekend" Peter told Ned.

"Sorry, you can't, I'm going down to Philadelphia for the weekend. We're visiting my aunt and uncle" Ned told him.

"That's what I told her, but she wanted me to double check" he said laughing.

They laughed at May's over protective antics and walked into the school. He went to his classes, got roasted my MJ at lunch and eagerly awaited the final bell. 

Finally it went. He hurried out of class and shoved everything in his locker. After that he ran towards his usual alley way by the school to change. He noticed that his suit was starting to hang a bit looser on his slim frame. That wasn't very good for the aerodynamics. He would have to either fix that or create a whole new suit. 

Either way he wasn't going to need it tonight. So he webbed his backpack to the nearby wall and took off.

"Guy in the Chair, do you read me" he said into the rewired earpiece. 

"I've got you, dude. The program I made is detecting a few things down if fifth that you might be able to help out" he said.

"Got it" Peter said taking off towards the street. 

When he got home he found May burning something as usual. 

"Peter honey, I really don't feel comfortable leaving you alone for the weekend" she said as soon as he entered. 

"May, I'll be fine" he told her.

"Could you maybe ask Tony Stark if you could spend the night on Saturday. You already stay for dinner twice a week. And Pepper gave me a call telling me how lovely you are" May persisted.

"It's different though if I ask to stay the night" he said.

"Speaking of which, Peter, imagine my shock when Pepper called and told me that you're getting bullied at school" she have him a look that told him not to lie.

"It's not that bad, maybe the odd bruise here or there, but really, I can handle it".

May did not look happy about this.

"We will be talking about this when I p get home. But right now there's a few other things that I need to take care of. I was asked to give a speech this morning. But this conversation is not over" she told him with a pointed look.

Peter was very much not looking forward to that conversation.

After that they ended up getting take out because May burnt the casserole she was attempting to make.

******

When the final bell rang the next day, Peter was relived. Yesterday's patrol had left his shoulders a bit sore. He has been running low on web fluid so he stretched his arms a lot more than usual. At least he got to go chill in the lab for the evening. 

He found Happy's car in the parking lot as usual. He gave a feeble attempt of trying to start a conversation, but it failed within the first few minutes. 

When he got to the tower, Mr Stark was already waiting for him with the shell of the clock on the worktable. 

"Hey kid, I think today we should finish the exterior and then maybe start on the sensors" he said by greeting.

"Sounds good Mr Stark" he said dropping his bag on his chair.

"It's Tony kid" 

"Whatever you say Mr Stark" he said, letting Spiderman take over.

He groaned in frustration. 

They worked on wiring and coding with the odd bit of soldering for the shell. It was peaceful. They didn't talk to much, but unlike with Happy, Peter got a chance to have a conversation with Mr Stark during dinner. It felt more natural. 

Eventually Pepper called then up at the usual time. They quickly turned off the machinery and left a computer on to test the shoddy coding Peter had made for the sensors. Coding wasn't really his thing, it was more Ned's. Hence how Ned had managed to write an entire program that kept him connected to the police and the goings on of Queens within a week. 

Pepper had made then tuna melts today. She set a small stack of them in the middle of the table and told them to grab as many as they wanted. Peter looked at the stack in awe. It may have been a small stack, but it was too much for 3 people. Well, for 3 normal people that is. 

Ever since the bite he was ways a but hungry, he wasn't sure why, but he theorized that his body was taking more nutrients to give him the muscle mass that it had. And probably more to repair all the injuries he got. 

The talk around the table was pleasent, calm. It felt nice. Until his phone started ringing. It was in his pocket and on vibrate but unfortunately Mr Stark heard.

"You might want to check who it is at least" he told him.

Peter not feeling to guilty once he had the invitation, wiped his greasy hands off on his pants and grabbed his phone.

It was May. Once he saw that he immediately picked up.

"What's wrong" he asked as soon as he heard the click. 

"Nothing's wrong, I was just calling to see if you've asked about the weekend yet" she told him. 

Ah, he should have known. It was brilliant of May to call at this time. But also incredibly inconvenient to Peter since he never had any intention of asking Mr Stark if he could stay. May took his brief silence as a no and told him to pass it to either Mr Stark or Pepper.

It ended up in Pepper's hands.

"Hi May... no, really, it's not a problem having Peter over for dinner, we normally have the rest of the team but their off on a 3 months mission over in the Eurasian area..."she said "Congratulations on the conference..." Even if he didn't have his enhanced hearing he could tell where this conversation was going as soon as may mentioned the conference "of course that's fine, I'll even do you one better, he can stay here the entire weekend...oh you're not imposing, I absolutely love having Peter over, Tony behaves a lot better when she's here" 

When Pepper gave Peter back his phone, she looked at Tony and told him what was going on.

"May's going to a conference in Boston for nurses across the country. She's doesn't feel comfortable leaving him home alone for the weekend so he's staying here" she informed him.

Mr Stark looked absolutely delighted at this news.

When Peter got home that night, he found May on the couch with the laptop on her lap still open to the half written speech she was going to give. 

Smiling Peter gently pulled the laptop for her grasp and layed her down in a more comfortable position. He quietly walked over to the closet and got out the thickest blanket they could find and put it gently on top of her. 

Smiling, he got himself ready for bed and dreamed having a picnic with Ben in the park.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyy, this was fun to write. But keep on the lookout for once chapter 18 drops. I know I keep hyping it up, but it's because I'm really exited for it and have been planning it since about chapter 6. I really hope it lives up to the expectations I'm setting.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Tony finds out the extent to which Peter is getting bullied and has a chat with him, that already doesn't start the weekend off great. At least the rest of Peter's weekend goes good though.
> 
> This is the longest chapter yet by far. 2600+ words. And it's all pretty fluffy if I do say so myself. Enjoy

The weekend had finally arrived. As nervous as Peter was, he was equally as exited. After all he was staying at the Tony Stark's penthouse. And sure, they had gotten close these past few weeks. But this was different. 

When the bell rang on Friday made he quickly made his way to his locker to swap some stuff out. He put back all the textbooks he didn't need and grabbed the overnight back he had stowed in there earlier. He had managed to avoid Flash all week. Ducking into empty classrooms or merging himself with larger crowds had been a difficult job, but it had been so worth it. After the bruise had disappeared, he had hoped that everyone would forget about the fact that he was being bullied, especially if he layed-low for a while. But of course, his luck had to run out eventually.

He was out the doors when he felt someone grab hood of his sweater. He was pulled into the grabbers chest and his arms were quickly pinned to his sides. He looked up and saw Flash sneering at him.

"Well look what the cat dragged in. Thought you were being all clever avoiding us hmm" he taunted.

Peter knew that Happy was probably watching so he needed to find a way out of this quickly. But at least it was Happy. He didn't seem particularly fond of Peter so he hoped that that meant that he wouldn't tattle. Still, better safe then sorry. 

But before he could try to wriggle out whoever was holding him's grasp, he felt his Spidey senses go off, then nano-seconds after, he felt the first blow. And then another. And more soon after that.

At first he thought it was just Flash, but he now saw that there were 2 other people. No chance now. They kept going at him. His ribs were definitely going to bruise, but he hoped the wouldn't break again. Especially since he was going to the tower.

Unfortunately, just like last time, a loud crack was heard and he was promptly dropped. 

Groaning he got back up trying to hide his limp. 

Once he spotted the familiar car, he straightened up as much as he could and made his way towards it.

When he finally slid in the seat he sighed in relief.

"Are you good Peter, those guys seemed pretty tough" Happy asked. 

"Uh, oh, yeah, nonono, I'm fine. Those were just some friends of mine, you know how guys are" he said with a nervous laugh. 

Happy didn't look convinced but started the car nonetheless.

A few moments later, he asked Peter the magic question.

"So, how was your day?"

Peter immediately started rambling about his day. Maybe this was the start of a new relationship with the driver.

Finally they got to the tower. Peter got out if the car and said his goodbyes, as Happy waved back.

"Hello Peter" said Friday.

"Hey Friday" 

"Boss has requested that I take you to his labs unless you want to get a snack" she told him.

"To the labs then" Peter said deciding against the snack.

When Friday dropped him off in the lab, he found Tony at his workbench.

"Hey kid" he said looking up from his work.

"Hi Mr Stark, how are you doing" Peter said. 

"Pretty good" he replied "but kid, we need to talk".

"What about" Peter asked worried.

"Here, let's go to the sitting room" he said pushing a button on his workstation. 

When he pushed the button a wall slid open leading to a small area with couches, a coffee table and a tv. The living room upstairs was much better, but it was clear that this area was meant more for brainstorming than actually relaxing in based on its location.

Once they were seated Mr Stark looked to him. 

"Peter, Happy told me about what he saw. About the guys beating you up after school" he told him.

"Like I told Happy, they were just playing around, you know how guys are" he lied.

"He said you were limping".

"There was something in my shoe"

The look Tony gave him was not a look he wanted to see again.

"Maybe they weren't really playing around" he admitted. "But it's fine, they're a little rough, but nothing that bothers me" he told him. 

"Kid that's not ok" Mr Stark said to him.

"There's not much I can do about it, so I just have to accept it" Peter said with a shrug. He winced at the movement.

"Are you sure they didn't seriously hurt you" he asked seeing the boy wince.

"It's fine" Peter insisted.

Mr Stark raised an eyebrow.

"Ok, maybe they bruised my ribs, just a little though" Pete conceded. 

"I'll be the judge of that" Mr Stark said standing up.

He walked out of the room clearly meaning for Peter to follow.

He lead them to the elevator and selected a floor that Peter had never been in before. Once they got there, the first thing that hit Peter was the strong scent of antiseptic. The next was the sterile white hallway.

"Welcome to the Medbay kid" said Mr Stark.

He walked out, and once again, Peter followed. 

He led them to what strongly resembled a hospital room. Exept much larger. Ok second thought, it probably was a hospital room. Or at least the Tony Stark version of one.

"Take a seat, I'll get Cho in here in a sec" He hold him.

Peter sat down on the bed in the far end of the room.

He pulled out his phone and texted someone. A few minutes later the ding of a recieved text could be heard through the room. 

"She's on her way".

Peter still didn't know who they were waiting for.

After a few more minutes a woman in a white lab coat walked in.

"This better be important Stark, I was in the middle of examining Bruce's muscle tears from the last code green" she said.

"It'll be quick, probably" he assured her.

"Well, what did you do this time" she asked.

"For once it wasn't me, it was my intern" he said motioning to Peter who was currently sitting down on the bed.

"I didn't know you had an intern" she said.

"He's only been interning with me for about a month now" he explained. 

"Well, what did he do" she asked

"He had a run in with some bullies after school. He thinks that they may have bruised his ribs, but I just wanted you to check to make sure it isn't anything more serious" he told her. 

She nodded. She turned her attention to Peter.

"I need a parents or guardians consent for this since he's a minor" she said. 

"On it" said Mr Stark whipping out his phone clearly calling May.

A few minutes later, his phone was pressed against Cho's ear. Thanks to Peter's enhanced hearing, he could hear the whole conversation.

When May heard the reason that Mr Stark wanted to get Peter checked out, she immediately agreed.

When Cho hung up, she turned her attention to Peter.

"Can you pull up your shirt for me" she asked Peter.

"I'm sure it's really nothing, they're just a little sore, really" he said trying to stop the inevitable.

"It'll just be a quick peak. Better safe than sorry" she said. 

Resigning himself to his fate, he rolled up his shirt to the top of his ribcage. 

He heard small gasps coming from the 2 adults in the room. He looked down and saw that his stomach was covered in varying shades of purples, blues yellows greens and reds. 

Cho carefully approached his stomach. Her hands started gently pushing down against the bones. It was going well. Until she hit the bottom half of of the rib cage. She kept gently pressing against the still swollen skin when she felt something shift beneath her fingers.

"It's cracked, not sure if it's a break, but there's definitely a fracture at the very least" she said. 

"What can you do for it" asked Mr Stark.

"Well first of all, I'd call the school to let them know so they can have a talk with these kids. I can give you a doctors note to help your case. This is completely unacceptable. And I want to take an x-ray just to see the damage" she said. 

"Don't worry, I'll make sure that these kids get what they deserve" he assured her.

"I'll go get the x-ray room ready" she said.

Then he turned to Peter.

"Kid, there's no way that that's comfortable. Why didn't you tell me" he asked.

Peter didn't say anything. He just stared at his shoes. So Mr Stark changed tactics.

"Is this the first time they've gotten physical with you" he asked.

"Second" he mumbled.

"When was the last time" Mr Stark asked him.

"Last week" he responded his eyes still on the floor.

He heard Mr Stark sigh.

"Kid, bullying is never ok. I don't care how big you are, or what you think you can handle. If you let them do things like this, then you're giving them the greenlight to bully other kids" he told him.

"But if they focuse all their time in one person then they won't go after anyone else" Peter reasoned. 

"There are so many things wrong with that sentence that we *will* unpack later, but for now, just know that that is incredibly backwards thinking that you have going on there" Mr Stark told Peter.

A few awkward seconds later, Cho walked in and brought them to the x-ray room. 

When they looked at the x-rays it was confirmed that he had a few cracked ribs on the bottom half.

"It's a little strange" Cho said after a few minutes of examining the pictures.

"The bones look cracked, but it doesn't look like it was only cracked today. The edges look slightly rounded, like they've had time to heal" she pointed to where the cracks were to show them what she meant.

They both leaned in to look at the screen. Peter couldn't tell anything by looking at the cracks though.

"Anyways" Cho said, "I'll just wrap your torso up. It's more for support than anything else. You can take it off when you shower but you'll have to re-wrap after you get out. I know that your aunt's a nurse so I won't worry about explaining how to wrap it up. I'm sure she can help you do it. It's always better having a medical professional so it. When you come back next week I'll take another x-ray to see the progress, but you'll probably be needing the wrap for about a month" she explained.

After that, Peter and Mr Stark went back up to the lab. They ended up working until 6 when Pepper reminded them via Friday about dinner. She ended up getting take-out this week. It was great, until Mr Stark told Pepper about the x-rays. 

Pepper got up from the table and gave him a gentle hug. After she gave him the "that's not ok and you should have told someone" lecture that he had been hearing a lot from Mr Stark lately. The meal went back to it's peaceful nature after that.

After dinner, they went back down to the lab with Pepper's warning not to stay up too late ringing in their ears. 

The alarm clock was going nicely. The coding that Peter had made had some issues that Mr Stark helped him out with. After that, they went back to the wiring. 

Eventually Peter went to work on his homework.

"I think maybe we should hear to bed" Mr Stark said after a while.

Peter pulled out his phone to check the time. 12:30. 

"Sorry for keeping you up so long Mr Stark" Peter said putting away his materials in their respective spots.

"There's nothing to be sorry for. I go to bed at 4am more times than I do at 12. I'm more so saying this for your sake. And for the sake of Pepper not yelling at me tomorrow.

"Oh, ok" Peter said grabbing his bag. 

When they went up to the elevator, Peter immediately went to the bathroom to change into his pj's and brush his teeth. 

Once he got out, he didn't see Mr Stark so he just hopped on the couch stole the pillow and throw blanket from the other couch for a makeshift bed on the 3-seater. After leaving his bag on the ground by his head. He settled in for the night.

A few minutes later he heard some shuffling around the kitchen.

"Kid, what are you doing on the couch?" he asked. 

"Sleeping" Peter said confused. Why else would he be there.

"I had a guest room prepared just for you kid" Mr Stark said.

"Oh, thanks Mr Stark. You really didn't have to though, I would have been fine on the couch, really" Peter said.

"Nonsense, I have plenty of guest rooms. Make yourself at home" Mr Stark said leading him down the hallway.

Finally they got to a white door on the far end of the hall. When Peter opened the door, his eyes widened. He found a massive room with a king sized bed, a desk and a setting area complete with a tv and bookshelf.

"Woah, Mr Stark, this is amazing" exclaimed Peter. 

"Really, it's not a problem, oh, there's a bathroom right over there" he said pointing towards the white door next to the open closet.

If possible, Peter's eyes got wider.

Chuckling, Mr Stark walked out to go to his own room.

"If you need anything you can other get me or Friday. My room is three doors down on this side of the hall. Otherwise, good night kid, see you in the morning" he said walking to his own room.

The next day, Peter woke up to a breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes. Complete with fresh chopped strawberries, whipped cream and maple syrup to top. 

After that they went down to the lab.

The day went much like last night. They worked in the lab, Mr Stark even let Peter help him out with the Ironman suite. Pepper came down to remind them to eat, and then back to the lab. That night, during dinner, Pepper suggested they watch a movie instead of continuing to work. Well, she may have suggested it, but they could both tell it was her telling them not to go back to the lab. Before they got to the couch though, they made a pit stop in the bathroom so that Mr Stark could redo the wrap around Peter's torso, he had showered earlier but hadn't put it back on. It was fine since he didn't actually need it, but Mr Stark didn't know that and gave him an earful about how important it was to make sure that his medical needs were met. 

Finally they made it to the couch. They ended up watching Baby's Day Out, as per Pepper's suggestion. After that they went to bed.

Sunday went about the same way until Happy dropped Peter off at his place after dinner. May wasn't scheduled to return home until tomorrow, but May wanted him to leave for school from their place so he didn't get lost on the subway. Mr Stark offered to get Happy to drive him, but May insisted that he had done enough for them that weekend.

When Peter got home, he decided to bake some cookies and watch tv for a little. Finally he fell asleep in his bed replaying the amazing weekend he had just had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyy. So if anyone been following this story for a few weeks you might remember I was updating pretty much every day. That's because before I hadn't started online school, but I've started that now so I have to put more time and energy into being productive. I'm thinking from here on out I'll be updating this story anywhere between 2-3 times a week. 
> 
> Sidenote, you might remember a few chapters ago that I mentioned that I had accidentally changed Ned's character a bit. Well I didn't quite dothat with Tony, I just feel like I rushed his character development. I'm really sorry if this bothers anyone. 
> 
> Other sidenote, if any of you guys have been paying attention you'll know that the next chapter I've been promising is going to be really exciting. I've finally got everything in place. Hopefully it'll be out in a few days.


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pete gets found out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyy, this is the big chapter. Looking at it now, I don't think it's incredibly exiting, but a lot happens. It's also 3000+ words. Hope everyone enjoys it 😊😊

Monday morning, Peter got this feeling. It wasn't his Spidey senses, it was just a feeling. It was the kind of feeling that you got when you were playing a horror game, and there were all these little jumpscares. Maybe a shadow moving across the screen, a broom falling down, a creak on a previously quite staircase. But you knew deep down that the game was just teasing you, luring you into a false sense of security so it could spring the big jumpscares at you. So it could scare the living daylight out of you. All the built up tension from creeping around coming out in one go. But this wasn't a game, much less a horror game, it was real life. But the feeling was there nonetheless. Something big was gonna happen, the big question, what.

He got ready in his usual rush before getting out the door. He was excited, there was going to be a supply in chemistry today, which was the perfect opportunity to make more of his webs. 

When he got to school, he once again found Ned holding a bag of cookies. 

"My mom's been on a baking streak lately" he said handing him the bag.

Peter opened it up and found 6 large chocolate chip cookies in it. 

"I love your mom, she makes the best cookies" Peter said biting into one.

The two headed into the building towards Peter's locker since Ned had already gone to his. 

Once their Peter switched out his books and handed Ned a crude copy of his web formula. Then he pulled out a plastic container which he headed to Ned. The container wasn't very large, it was about the size of a textbook.

"If you can grab the materials from chemistry in the right ratios, that would help me out a ton. I've given you the whole formula on one side if you want to give it a try, but there's also the ratios in the back if you're just collecting" Peter told him.

A few weeks ago Peter had told Ned that he was going to be making more web fluid tomorrow. Ned had asked if he could go with Peter to help him out. It was then that Peter remembered that he had never told Ned where he made his web fluid. After he explained that he did it in class, they had spent the past few weeks going through all the notes Peter had ever made in. In case Ned ever needed to make any in an emergency, he knew how to. But then Peter had realized that if they were careful, that he could have Ned snag extra materials. And that led them to today. 

Later that day, as Peter walked into chemistry, he was not disappointed. Sure enough, there was a supply sitting in his teachers usual seat. They were working on study notes for the upcoming test, but Peter had a small stash of materials hidden in the workstation. He had managed to jam the drawers so that only he come open them. To test it, he left a stash of pencils. No one in their right mind would leave the pencils there. And after a few tries, the pencils stopped disappearing entirely. He knew that people in other classes had complained but so far, no one had been able to figure out how to un-jam it without taking the thing apart. 

He got to work mixing the beakers together and carefully stirring while counting in his head whe the supply droned on about the properties of nobel gases. Then, he set up the cannisters with the pressurized air to fill his web-shooters.

*****

He walked out of school with a smile on his face. They had both succeeded. Ned hadn't been able to make the fluid because he was worried about it exploding. Which was a definite possibility, even with his latest formula. But now, it was time to patrol. 

He went to his usual alley-way and changed into his suit. 

It was a good day today. The sun was shining with a chill in the air. He swung around the city feeling free. He helped a few elderly people across the street that day, rescued cats from trees, and stopped a few bicycle thefts.

In fact, it was going pretty much perfect until he got the alert from Ned about a bank robbery. Now as Spiderman, he did everything. Bank robberies included, but this particular robbery was different.

"Put down the gun and no one gets hurt" Peter said.

"What can you do with your silly string against a bullet" asked the robber.

"You get a new batch, so I guess you're getting to know its highest capabilities" Peter said shooting his webs toward him. 

Unfortunately he made the mistake of aiming for his torso, which he hit, but his gun hand was still good to go.

He heard the loud crack of a gun and felt the bullet lodge into his upper left thigh. 

"Dude," he said holding back a scream "not cool". 

He webbed up his gun hand. A few seconds later, he heard the familiar sounds of the police sirens. 

"Make better life descisions" Peter said leaving the bank. 

"Peter, get to the roof of my place. I think I can get that bullet out" he heard Ned say.

"On it, though I'd rather do it on my own" Peter replied.

When he got to Ned's appartment building, he found Ned with a blanket and what looked like half the bathroom cabinet next to him. 

He changed quickly into his normal clothes.

At first he was going to let Ned take the bullet out, but when he saw his friends shaking hands, he made the executive decision to take over. It wasn't too difficult. He extracted the bullet using tweezers and poured hydrogen peroxide into the wound. Unfortunately there wasn't that much left in the bottle. And since Peter didn't want to run the Leeds out of it, he ended up using a lot less than he should have. Then he used the sewing kit that Ned had brought up to give himself 2 quick stitches. After that he headed home.

When he got home, his leg was still killing him. It was as if he still had the bullet in there. But he had done extra time with the tweezers to make sure there wasn't any shrapnel left in there. Then he remembered that last time he got shot, it got worse before it got better.

It did not get better. When he woke up the next day, he had the make sure to never stay on his injured leg for more than a second. He sat down as much as possible while going through the morning. And when he had to stand on the subway to get to school, he made sure that his right leg took his entire weight.

Ned immediately noticed something was up, and Peter, not wanting to worry him, told him that it was just the way bullet wounds healed. 

Throughout the day, it somehow got worse. He had a full on limp and all his energy seemed to be focused on his leg. 

He also felt really warm all day. When he took off his hoodie at lunch, Ned gave him a weird look and asked how Peter could be warm when the school still hadn't turned on the heat yet and they were practically popsicles at this point.

Tuesday didn't go much better. Especially since he seems to have caught the bug that had been going around the school recently. He was struggling to stay awake during class. So much so, that all his focus went to staying awake rather than the actual lessons. 

At lunch, MJ took one look at him and told him, 

"Go home before I kick your butt nine ways to Sunday for getting me sick" but that had been follows up with a small smile, so Peter knew she didn't really mean it and meant it at the same time. He got the familiar fluttering in his chest that seemed to happen whenever MJ was around.

Ned was with MJ, reminding him that he wouldn't be able to patrol until was feeling better. 

Wednesday went pretty much the same way as Tuesday. Exept you could add a pounding headache to his list of ailments. To top it all off, his leg was something feeling way worse than before. The night before he had checked on the stitches. But oddly enough, the skin still hadn't completely closed around the wound. With his healing, the wound should have healed up within a few hours. But it had been a day. He shrugged that off considering this was the first time he needed stitches for a bullet shot. 

He dozed off at lunch. When Ned woke up up for the next period, Peter felt the exact same as he did before. 

When the final bell rang, he was so ready to go and lay in his bed until the cows came home. But then he saw the familiar car.

How could he have forgotten.

"Hi Happy" Peter said through the open window.

"Hey kid, Tony says to go straight to the lab, says something about getting ready to assemble your project today.

Normally news like that would have had Peter jumping for the stars. But today, it only added to his exhaustion.

The ride was a silent one. Apparently Happy's attempt at making conversation only lasted for one day. It was fine by Peter since he could feel his leg lighting fire every time the car so much as drive over gravel. 

Eventually they got there and Peter was immesley relived. He got out of the car, not even trying to hide his limp anymore. It was taking a lot of energy, besides Happy had already driven off.

"Peter, you seen to be severely injured right now, would you like me to let Boss know" asked Friday as soon as he stepped in the elevator. 

"No thanks Fri, it's not that bad" Peter told her.

"If you say so Peter".

When he got to the lab, he took a moment to compose himself before entering. 

"Hi Mr Stark" he said walking in. He was putting more weight on his left leg so to not seem suspicious. 

"Hey kid, grab a seat, I've got some exiting stuff planned for today" Mr Stark said.

Peter quickly got the chair and slid next to Mr Stark's. Mr Stark started taking about brainwaves and the possibility of manipulating them to get people to fall asleep.

Peter thought it was really interesting, but he suddenly had trouble keeping his eyes open.

"Pete, kid. You with me" Mr Stark asked snapping his fingers in front of his face. 

"I'm fine" Peter mumbled before promptly sliding off his seat and onto the floor.

He was pretty sure he heard Mr Stark yell for him and try to catch him. But the floor got to him first.

A few seconds later he registered that someone was splashing water on his face.

"Mmm" he mumbled.

"You ok, that was quite the tumble you took there sleeping beauty" Mr Stark said.

Slowly Pete opened his eyes and saw that Mr Stark was sitting over him so that a water bottle in his hand. 

"It's probably just you overworking yourself while your sick, but I've called Cho to have a look just in case" he continued as if Peter had said something.

"Hey Peter, you feeling ok" he said when he saw that Peter was conscious again.

Peter let out a groan in response.

"After your feeling better, you and I are going to be having a long talk about self care" he told him.

Right, Mr Stark thought that it was just a particularly bad bout of the flu. Hopefully it was just that and the bullet wound in his thigh was completely unrelated.

Sure enough, a few minutes later Cho walked into the lab with a gurney in tow.

"Help me get him on here" she said to Mr Stark.

It was a bit of a challenge since Peter wasn't much of a help. But after a few tries, they successfully got him onto they gurney. He felt them put some straps over his stomach.

He tried reaching for those but fort a hand stop him halfway there. 

"Those are so you won't fall off bud" he heard Mr Stark say.

He was suddenly overcome with the urge to leave. He tried sitting up, moving his legs and his arms, but nothing was cooperating. He felt them start wheeling him towards the elevator. The small bumps in the floor were murder on his thigh and he couldn't help the noises the escaped from his mouth.

After an especially harsh jostle, he let out one last groan and lost consciousness.

*******

He woke up to the beeping of a heart monitor. His eyes were still closed, but he heard a second heartbeat so he knew he wasn't alone. Slowly, he started opening his eyes and trying to figure out where he was. He was lying down. Combine that with the scent of antiseptic, and he concluded he was probably in the Medbay.

The lights were bright and hurt his eyes. Then as he moved his right arm, he felt something sharp in it. Slowly he turned his head in that direction. He found an IV needle stuck into the vein there. 

"So he's awake" said a voice from behind him. 

He slowly turned his head in the other direction to find Mr Stark sitting in a chair next to him.

"Yeah, Cho said to expect you to be a bit lathargic for a while" Mr Stark said once Peter was facing him. "For now the IV just has a saline drip to keep you hydrated".

"What happened" Peter asked, his voice low and gravelly.

"Well, we were in my lab just doing some talking, and you weren't looking to great" Mr Stark said. "And then you decided to take a swan dive in the lab." 

"I remember that part" Peter said 

"At first I figured it was just a particularly bad flu combined with some teenage stubbornness, but when Cho did the test to be absolutely sure and it came back negative, I was lost. So we ran a few blood tests" he told him. "So Peter," he said going down to eye level with him, "care to explain how you got blood poisoning, and why you didn't tell anyone".

"Blood poisoning" Peter said shocked, his voice still sounding like he had smoked 10 packs of cigarettes.

"Yup, blood poisoning. Any wounds we should know about that might be causing it, that would make it so much easier for us to get you the right treatment" he told him.

Peter knew exactly what was causing it, his leg. He probably hadn't cleaned the area as well as he thought. The trouble was, if he told them about it, be would probably have to out himself as Spiderman. Unless...

"I, I accidentally sliced my leg open the other day while cooking. We didn't have too much disinfectant left so I guess I didn't clean it properly" he said.

"I'll have Cho take a look at your leg when she gets back then" he said. But something in his tone of voice told him that he didn't quite believe it.

When Cho got back a few minutes later, she ended up cutting away the jean from the area.

"Hmmm, this is definitely the scource of the infection," she said, "but it's too round to be a knife. It almost looked like a bullet wound. And Peter, these stitches are abysmal. Please leave these kinds of things to the medical professionals".

"Sorry, hospitals are too expensive. Couldn't risk going" Peter said, although there was more than one reason he couldn't risk it. 

Cho didn't look very happy at this news. 

"We'll put you under an anesthetic and work on your thigh. We'll probably just clean the area a bit more and make sure that you didn't leave any bits of food behind. Snd were defined going to fix up these stitches", she informed him.

"Do you know if both your parents were genetically healthy" she asked all of a sudden.

"Why" Peter asked.

"Looking through the blood tests, I found some abnormalities with your chromosomes. I can't tell what the issue is since it was just a surface level scan, but they're definitely not normal. It's a mutation for sure, bur not one I've ever seen before" she explained.

"Can I see" Mr Stark asked.

"Sure" and with that she left them alone presumably to get the tests printed.

A few minutes later, a nurse wheeling a large tank and what looked like an oxygen mask walked in.

"Hi hon, this is just the anesthesia" she said quickly strapping the mask Peter's nose and mouth. 

She pulled what Peter assumed was the pressure gauge a little and he hated a loud hissing.

"Count down from 10 for me, and next thing you know, you'll feel a lot better" she said.

Peter started counting down but didn't feel anything happening. When he got to zero he was still pretty awake.

The nurse frowned. "This should've knocked you right out by the time you hit 3".

They heard the click clack of Cho's heels walking through the door.

"Hi Elle dear, how's Peter reacting to the anesthesia" she asked.

"That's the thing Helen, he's not reacting at all" she said.

Cho looked at him confused. She walked over and looked over the tank. Pulling gently on the tube and running her fingers along its length. Presumably to find any holes.

The entire time Mr Stark had been sitting next to Peter saying nothing.

"Nurse Elle, would you mind giving me us a moment. If you have to take the tank with you, do, but if your able to leave it, feel free to" he told her.

The nurse walked over to the still going tank and shut it off before quickly exiting the room.

"Peter, could you think of any reason, any reason at all, as to why the anesthesia might not be working on you" he asked.

Peter knew this was the end of the line for him. He would have to come clean.There would be no more close calls, or half baked excuses. Was be even gonna be able to be Spiderman anymore. Would they tell his aunt. Who knows.

"I'm Spiderman" he said purposefully lowering his voice so that it would be harder to understand.

"You're what" he heard Cho say at the same time that he heard Mr Stark cry out "I knew it".

"You knew" Pete said looking at Mr Stark in shock.

"Well, I wasn't 100% sure, but you left your notebook open last week while you went it the bathroom. I was curious to see what they were teaching you so I had a look. It wasn't anything I reconized. So I had Friday take a picture and when you left for the day, I asked her what the formulas would make. She told me that it wasn't a substance reconized by any lab anywhere in the world. She calculated it and said that in theory, of I were to make it, it should act similarly to what Spiderman's webs would be. So I had her put together all Spiderman sightings and put them over times I'm either with you, or even your supposed to be in school. And to my surprise, you 2 have never not once, overlapped." he explained.

"If that's the case, we can probably use Captain America's drugs on you" Cho said. 

"Now then, want to tell us the real way you injured your leg Peter" Mr Stark said. His tone of voice wanted him not to lie.

"Got shot, and I didn't have enough disinfectant" he said honestly.

"We are gonna have a talk about that once you get all the drugs our of your system" Mr Stark said seriously. 

A few minutes later, the nurse walked in again, this time with a tank that had a picture of Captain America's shield on it. 

She put the mask over Peter's face bad had him count down from 10 again. This time he was out before he got to 4.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I've been planning his identity reveal son chapter 6. Or since he got shot the first time. I've been trying to stop all sorts of him I the last few chapters to show that he's Spiderman. Next time we're gonna find out how May reacts to all this. I went through and tried to pick any spelling mistakes that I could. But if I missed any, feel free to let me know. And fro.herenoiutz the story will probably be more exciting and were gonna see Petr and Tony's relationship grow even stronger.


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The after math of the last chapter. Ends with some fluff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't had a change to look over and check for mistakes in this one, sorry. I'll get to it tomorrow. Enjoy.

Beep...beep... beep

That was the first thing he heard when he swam into conciousness. He first became aware of the bed beneath him, then the needle in his arm. His head felt like it full of cotton balls. He lied there, trying to figure out what time it was. Then he figured that he should probably try to move. He counted out 30 beats before he tried to move his hand.

He tried flexing his fingers, but they felt heavy and stiff. 

He counted out another 30 beats on the heart monitor before trying to open his eyes. 

As soon as the light hit his bare pupil he immediately shut them again. He counted out another 30 beats before trying to open his eyes again. This time, he opened then slowly. Giving his eyes a chance to adjust to the light before opening them a little more. It still hurt, but he was making progress. Eventually he had his eyes completely open and be was staring at ceiling. 

He suddenly became aware of a second heartbeat in the room. He slowly turned towards the sound.

He could feel the deja vu. 

"Hey kid, you up" asked Mr Stark.

Deciding that words would be too much effort, Peter grunted.

"Yeah, I bet" Mr Stark said.

A few minutes later, Peter finally worked up the mental energy to talk. 

"What happened" his tongue felt heavy in his mouth and he slurred his words.

"Well, you decided that getting shot, cleaning it with less than the bear minimum of disinfectant needed to be effective, subsequently get an infection, and not tell anyone anything until you collapse in my lab was a good idea" Mr Stark told him. Behind the bite, Peter heard the care behind the statement.

"Sorry" he mumbled. He resisted the sudden urge to close his eyes and sleep.

"We'll have a real conversation when your not all doped up. For now, just try to sleep" Mr Stark said, obviously noticing Peter's struggle.

Peter didn't need to be ts twice, so he closed his eyes and fell back asleep.

******

When he woke up again, it was dark. He was more awake then he had been earlier. After a few minutes of lying there, he realized he had to go to the bathroom. He immediately tried getting up. When he sat up, he took a minute to let the blood rush to his head.

Then he started standing up.

"I would advise against that Peter" it was Friday.

"I can't stay here all night, I need to be home, my aunt will worry" he told her.

"Boss has already taken care of that, in compliance with Dr Helen Cho's orders of bed-rest for at least 3 days" she told him.

"I still need the bathroom" Peter pointed out.

"I can get Boss down here to help you with that" she offered. 

"I'm fine Friday, really" he told her.

"I'm required to tell him if you need anything before he gets down here in the morning" she said.

"Don't bother waking him up" he said.

"He's currently working in his lab, so it wouldn't be problem" she told him.

He ignored her and stood up. He immediately regretted it. His thigh felt like someone had taken a spiked baseball bat to it. He quickly sat back down. 

He was stood on his right leg trying to gently out some weight in his left one when he heard the door open.

"I think Friday's already warned you against that Peter" said Mr Stark walking in the room towards Peter.

"I've got to use the washroom" Peter said.

"Alright, let me help you" he said looping an arm under Peter's right arm.

Peter sighed but accepted the help even though he didn't think he needed it. Unfortunately the IV stand had to come with him. 

Once he was safely deposited back on the bed, Mr Stark dragged the chair back to the bed from where it had been moved.

"So, wanna explain anything, like possibly how you became Spiderman, and why you didn't tell anyone about getting shot" he asked. 

Peter sighed, but he knew what had to be done.

So, he told him everything, the bite, his Ben's death, the first onesie suite, Ned, his web fluid. All the way up to him getting shot.

"That's quite the story there Peter" he said. But it wasn't in a condescending way. It was just a "wow, but that's an inappropriate way to respond to that so I'll just say something" type of way. 

"Yeah, my life be crazy" Peter said. He chuckled internally for using such a slang filled phrase.

"Go back to sleep, I'll bring you breakfast at 10, then we can talk about where we're going from here.

Peter immediately got worried, did that mean he would be forced to join the Avengers. It wasn't that he didn't want to, but he liked helping out the lost cats and stopping would-be bike theifs. 

Mr Stark must have seen the worry on Peter's face because he told him,

"Nothing bad, you can still work as my intern, but we will have to change some things up" he reassured him.

With that he left the room, but not before telling Friday to wake him if Peter needed him again.

True to his word, Mr Stark came down at 9, when Peter woke up, with a tray full of breakfast.

"Eat up, we needed to give you an extra strong dose of Cap's anesthesia so I don't even want to know about how much food you need" he said gesturing to the very full plates.

"It's fine Mr Stark, I don't actually need that much food" he said starting on the cereal bowl first lest the cereal get soggy.

"You do actually need a lot, you know that right" Mr Stark told him.

"I'm just a little more hungry than I was before I got bitten" Peter said.

"Kid, you can't going around eating the same as every other kid on the block when I literally seen videos of you stopping a bus with your vare hands" Mr Stark exclaimed.

"I've been doing it so far" he said with a shrug.

"Just eat, and keep going till your full. I have plenty of food upstairs if you need more" Mr Stark told him.

So Pete did. After the cereal he had the toast, followed by the scrambled eggs and bacon. Some toaster waffles and fresh strawberries came after that. He even had room for the banana chocolate chip muffin that was on the tray.

"It's weird," Peter said finishing off the muffin, "I've never felt that hungry before, even though I've been like this for half a year now".

"That's probably because your body was trying to ration the nutrients you did have. Cho had a closer look at your blood samples and checked the nutrients in your blood. Everything was on the low end. She also had to take a biopsy of the muscle and skin around the bullet whole to check for infections and whatnot. But after looking at the blood samples, she looked at the tissue cells. And they were off the charts. She theorizes that your body stores most of what you get in your skin and muscle tissue where it lays dorment, until you need it, then it sends out the amounts that you need" he said.

"But why wasn't there anything in my blood, I mean, I was poisoned" Peter asked.

"She things its because your body was trying to get your immune systems to fight it. Food and energy is a precious commodity in your body, so it tried going the energy saving route and getting your white blood cells after it, rather than sending protein and sugar" he explained.

"Oh" Peter said.

"Now, how do you want to tell May" Mr Stark asked.

"What, we are not telling May, she's not going to find out" Peter said.

"Kid, you can't keep doing this, we can spare her the details, but you have to tell her" Mr Stark said to him.

"Fine, but can we do it afterwards, speaking of which, I have to get to" he tried getting out of bed only to have Mr Stark put a hand on his leg.

"The school called you aunt to tell her that school is cancelled for the rest Fi the week, they apperantly have to fumigated the place" Mr Stark told him.

"Oh ya, I remember hearing someone like that" Peter said.

"Which means you get to down the rest of the week resting, like I promised Cho you would"Mr Stark said.

"I've invited your aunt over for dinner tomorrow. By then we'll be safe to move you in a wheelchair up to the penthouse. Hopefully then you can also spent the night in your guestroom" Mr Stark told him.

"I don't need a wheelchair, I walked to the bathroom fine on my own earlier" he protested.

"That was the bathroom, doctors orders are traveling no more than 30 feet at at a time. The distance from here to the bathroom, 15 feet. That's 30 at a time, the distance from here to the elevator, 40 feet. Over the limit, and that's just to the elevator" Mr Stark said firmly.

"But-"

"Kid, it's for you own good. If to use your leg too much, you could read the muscles there" Mr Stark said in a gentle tone.

Peter ssw what she wanted, and he understood, but that didn't mean he had to be happy about it.

"Since your gonna be here all day, want me to pull in the tv set from the room next door and you can watch movies and stuff" Mr Stark asked.

"Please, I don't want my eulogy to say "died of boredom"" Peter said cheekily.

Mr Stark rolled his eyes, but got up to get the tv nonetheless.

When he came back, he brought the 70inch tv in tow. 

"It's controlled by Friday. You can ask her to find a show, or just browse YouTube or whatever the youth of today like to use" he explained. 

He then walked out.

"Wait" Pete yelled after him when he was about halfway down the hall.

"What is it" the man said practically sprinting back to the room

Peter suddenly felt childish. It was a stupid request.

"Sorry" he mumbled, "it's nothing".

"I'm sure it's not nothing, so spill" Mr Stark said.

Peter waited for him to leave, bit when he didn't, he figured it was worth a shot.

"I-its just-" Peter stuttered.

"What is it kid" Mr Stark said gently.

"Would you stay and watch a movie with me" Peter asked quickly, before she lost the nerve to do so.

Mr Stark blinked a few times. And Peter was worried that he would regret giving him the internship when his face broke out into a huge grin.

"I'd love to kid. But only one since I've got things to do" he said.

One turned into 2, whick turned into 3, then 4,5,6 all the way until Pepper found them sleeping when she came to find them for dinner.

She smiled and told Friday to tell them when they woke up, that they could heat up the take-out she had ordered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyy everyone. Hope everyones doing ok. Sorry that May didn't make an appearance in this chapter, next time though, promise.
> 
> I went through all the old chapters today up until about chapter 12 and fixed (hopefully) all the grammar and continuety errors I had. Nothing's changed really, just sometimes I added a few extra sentences or got rod if some entirely. The main plot is still 100% itact, but my mistakes aren't.


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> May comes in ane find out about Spiderman

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone. I hope you guys are still enjoying this story. This chapter wasn't really coming to me so I hope it's good.

He winced as Cho pulled the needle from his arm. It's not that she wasn't gentle, it was just that the the thought of anyone pulling out a hollow stick of metal from his arm weirded him out. And there was a pinch. She wiped down the area with a disinfectant wipes and taped a cotton ball to the crook of his elbow.

"You're all good to go, keep your weight off your bad leg a much as possible for the next couple weeks. And don't forget your still on bed-rest at least until Monday" she reminded him.

He was about to say something when the doors burst open. It was Mr Stark with a wheelchair.

"I can walk up there on my own" Peter protested upon seeing the wheelchair.

"The torn ligament says otherwise" he responded with some snark.

Peter didn't bother arguing after that, not with both Cho and Mr Stark in the room. Besides, he had bigger things to worry about. Like the fact that he was going to tell May he was Spiderman at dinner. It was currently 5, and May wasn't due until 7. He tried to get out of it. But Mr Stark told him he didn't feel good going behind May's back like that. Especially since he was going to try to be more involved in Peter's life with the whole superhero gig.

One they came up the elevator, he tried standing up.

"Uh uh uh kid. It might be under the limit here, but that doesn't mean you get to up and walk around" Mr Stark said placing a hand in his shoulder. 

He was wheeled towards the living room and placed next the couch.

"You can get on the couch or you can stay in the wheelchair, up to you" he told him.

Peter decided he'd rather chill on the couch than the chair. He quickly got off the chair and proceeded to practically fall onto the couch. As much as he hated the chair, he was grateful that he was being forced into it. Not that he was going tell anyone that though.

He stretched out so that he was laying down. He found that it out less pressure on his thigh

He had Friday put on a few episodes of Last Man Standing while he waited.

Not too long later he heard the elevator ding. He didn't think too much about it. Until he heard May demanding where he was.

"May" he called out from where he was in the couch.

"Peter" she cried out running towards him. 

"Are you ok" she said getting on the edge of the cushion by his legs.

"I'm fine, why" Peter asked

May's face took on one of absolute disbelief.

"Maybe because you got shot" she exclaimed incredulously.

Peter shot a look at Mr Stark who was watching from the kitchen.

He just gave him a look at like "what can you do" look as if he hadn't just blown Peter's cover.

"It just grazed me, really" he said emphatically.

"I'll be the judge of that one" May said.

Peter knew there was no way back from this. He carefully rolled up the leg of sweat pants he had been given. 

When he revealed the patchwork of bandages he heard May gasp.

"What happened" she asked, "and don't you dare donwplay it Peter Benjamin Parker."

"He got shot, the bullet managed to to miss the bone, but it tore a ligament and grazed the bone. Then he tried cleaning it but didn't do it properly, it got infected. We had to do a surgery to clean out the area and make sure there wasn't any bullet left in him" said Mr Stark walking into the living room saving him tbe trouble.

"He WHAT" said May turning on him.

"Don't look at me, he did it all on his own" he said raising his hands by his chest, palms outwards.

"If that's true, he shouldn't even be up here. He should be in bed. Why has he been cleared already" she yelled.

"It helps that he doesn't need too long to recover" Mr Stark told her.

"What" May asked, confusion evident on her face. 

"I think Peter might hsve something he wants you to know" Mr Stark said gesturing towards Peter.

May looked to him expectantly.

"May, I'm... I'm...well you see, I kinda got bit by a spider a while a go, right, and uh, well, I... something about that spider was weird I guess, and ImayormaynotbeSpiderman" he said the last part quickly hoping she would just leave it. 

She stared at him. 

"You're...you're, Spiderman. H-how, when" she trailed off.

"Remember when I went to Oscorp, and the got really sick afterwards" when May nodded he continued, "well, when I got better, I was like this" he explains.

"And, exactly what is "this"" she asked.

"The kid can lift buses with his bare hands, heal broken bones in days and stick to walls like it's nobody's business" Mr Stark supplied for Peter.

Peter could see the wheels turning in May's head trying to process this new information. She stood up from the couch, still staying close to him.

"How often does all this," she gestured towards Peter's injured leg, "happen?"

"This is as bad as it's ever been. I've been shot twice before. The first time, the bullet made an exit hole so I just cleaned it up and stitched myself up. The second time though, I had to dig out the bullet. I was limping for a few days, but I was fine other than that" Peter told her.

May pursed her lips at the last part. She stood there looking at Peter. He didn't know what she saw in that moment, but he knew he didn't just see him, she saw Spiderman too. She saw the person he was going to become. Her eyes scanned up and down his body, looking for what, Peter didn't know, but whatever she was looking for, she found. A few minutes later she gave a satisfied nod.

When she sat back down she pulled Pete into a tight hug.

"I want to yell at you and tell you how dangerous it is. But you already know that. You already know that because I can tell that as soon as that leg is healed up that you're going right back out there because you don't want anyone else to get hurt. You're gonna keep throwing yourself in from of bullets no matter what I do so that you can protect everyone else. And I'm proud of you. You had the opportunity to become the cool kid in school, or a theif, you even had the options to do nothing. But you choose to be a hero" May leaned down to hug him. She held him tight, and Peter felt right at home.

When she finally pulled away, Peter saw the tears in eyes and a look of pride so fierce, he knew that she would be there, right behind him, every step of the way.

Then Pepper called then for dinner. Tonight she had made a fillet mignon with roasted potatoes. Peter expected May to be a little more reserved like he was when he first dined with the couple, but she integrated herself seamlessly into the night. 

After dinner Pepper told them that they were ordering in desert from their favorite Italian bakery. So May took the time to have a talk with Peter and Mr Stark.

"I want him to be safe" she said, "and I don't feel like he is. I've seen the YouTube videos. His suit looks like a second hand pair of pajamas."

"I agree, which is why if you would let me, I would like to make him a suit. It would function in a way like the Ironman suit. It would have a HUD with a map of the city, his location, easy access to the police, an AI to give him a hand, all the good stuff, along with some saftey protocols of course" Mr Stark told her.

"Say," he asked suddenly, "how are you doing everything right now."

"Me and my friend we basically made a computer from scratch that. He made a few programs that take audio from police radio scanners, citizen reports, and security cameras from around converts them into a visual. Form there the visuals are overlayed onto a map of the city that takes anything using any FM or AM radio frequency for any reasons and triangulates where I am relative to cars and appartment buildings" Pete explained..

The 2 adults looked at him in shock.

"I want to meet him" Mr Stark announced.

"Tell him to come over on Friday and bring all the tech you have, wether it's finished it still in its prototype phase.

"You got it Sir" Peter said with a mock salute.

But the end of the night Peter had received a curfew time, and he had been able to help Mr Stark with soe extremely rough sketches of his future Spiderman suit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiii. I honestly could not think of a good way to have May react to Spiderman but I think I got as close as possible with this.
> 
> Also, I kinda want to start doing some one-shots, if anyone is interested just let me know, or better yet, leave me a prompt. If no one's interested, I might do one anyways.


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ned finally meets Mr Stark and humour ensues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, 2 weeks huh. Sorry about that. I honestly couldn't find any motivation though. I'm not too happy with this chapter either. I haven't had a change to edit this so sorry for all the mistakes.

May went home after dinner telling them she had an early morning shift the next day. That left Peter Mr Stark and Pepper alone. Although he was comfortable with both of them, it was still a bit weird for him being so casual with them. 

A few minutes later Mr Stark announced that he had some things he needed to finish up in the lab. Peter wanted to come, but since he was in a wheelchair he ended up staying behind. 

Peter felt weird being in his living room without him and played with his phone for a few minutes.

Pepper, clearly picking up Peter not wanting to be alone, set up shop with her laptop on the other couch answering business emails

"How are you feeling Peter" Pepper asked a few minutes later.

"I've been better, bullet holes don't generally make it for a good time" Peter said with a small chuckle.

Pepper let out a small laugh at that.

"I'm sure. Tony's had more than a few bullet wounds in his time. Although he's never tried to hide them" she gave him a point look.

"I-uh, I thought I had it under control" Peter said scratching his head sheepishly. 

"Just don't do it again. He's trying to look out for you, and he can't exactly do that with you just hiding serious things like this. Besides, I'm sure that pulling out that bullet hurt. Here he can at least give you something to numb around the wound" she reminded him gently. 

Pepper, like May, had the uncanny ability to make Peter feel bad withour making him feel guilty. It just made him want to be better.

"I'll do that" he said. He tried to mean it, but he didn't want to be bothering him with something as simple as flesh wounds. Those healed pretty fast after all.

The room descended into a comfortable silence after that. Peter alternating between scrolling through Reddit and texting Ned. Ned was excited about being invited to the tower. He had gotten no less than 50 emojis when Peter had first asked him. 

He was waiting on Mr Stark to confirm when Ned could come tomorrow. It helped since the school was closed for the week. 

Speaking of the devil. Mr Stark walked out of the elevator a few seconds later. With a roll of blueprints in hand.

"I've started some schematics for the future suit. There are some features that I'm giving you but you'll have a choice on most. And you'll also be able to help me make the thing. May called me while I was down there, and we've agreed that you're not going out without the need suit" he said handing the roll to Peter.

"Wow thanks Mr Stark" Peter exclaimed, "but you don't really have to of you're to busy. I've been doing fine with the currently suit." 

"Kid, I'm Tony Stark, I don't do anything I don't want to do. And I want to give you a suit. Besides I wouldn't be able to sleep at night if I didn't."

Pepper raised an eyebrow.

"Well, less than I already do" he amended. 

"Oh, when do you want Ned to get here tomorrow" Peter asked remembering the excited text messages he had been bombarded with for the past hour.

"Anytime he can make it" Mr Stark replied.

"Cool, maybe he could get here at 11" Peter proposed shyly.

"Works for me kid."

Peter quickly sent Ned a text telling him to "get his fanboy butt over there by 11". 

"Do you want to watch a movie Pete" asked Mr Stark from the kitchen. Peter heard the kettle turn on and was making what he assumed to be coffee.

"Uhhh, sure" he replied. Inwardly, he was freaking out over the fact that he was about to watch a movie with his childhood hero.

"Pick a movie then, the remotes on the armrest" he said to him from the kitchen.

Peter set up Zootopia, he wasn't sure why, he was just in the mood for it.

A few moments later, Mr Stark got to the couch 2 mugs in hand. He handed one to Peter. 

Peter took a quick sip and found that he had been handed hot chocolate.

"Really, that movie" Mr Stark said wrinkling his nose 

"Sorry, I can pick a different one of you want" Peter said quickly.

"Nah, I'm just kidding anyways... mostly" he said.

Peter laughed at that.

"I also haven't seen this movie" he said with a shrug

"You haven't seen this movie" Peter exclaimed turning on his mentor.

"No, was I supposed to" he asked putting his hands up in surrender.

"I guess not" Peter conceded, "but still"

He took another sip of his hot chocolate as Friday started the movie.

Peter found himself relating to Judy in a lot of ways. Hit bullied, check, worked to overcome those bullies, check, became a crime stopping hero, yup, really just takes care of petty crime, definitely. Unfortunately his childhood bully had yet to apologies to him and realize his wrongdoings, but he supposed that would come with time.

He started getting sleepy around the time Judy and Nick Wilde went to investigate Tundra Town. The hot chocolate was definitely to blame. Definitely not the fact that his body had been fighting off an infection for most of the week so far. Nope totally not that.

At some point he ended up falling asleep and the next thing he knew the sun was hitting his eyes from the guest room window and Friday was telling him that Mr Stark would be there in a moment.

"Hey kid" he said walking through the door, "Pep helped me get you here last night. You fell asleep and we couldn't wake you up."

"Sorry" Peter said embarrassed.

"That's fine kid, you're body just needed rest after the week you've had. Dr Cho still wants you to use the wheelchair until you go home today, so let's get you on there" he said approaching the bed 

"I'm fine, t'was but a scratch" Peter protested.

"Pete, a bullet wound is a lot more than a scratch" he said.

Peter knew he wasn't gonna win this one so he let Mr Stark help him into the wheelchair.

When they walked through the kitchen Peter caught the time on the stove clock. 10:30.

He ate through the stack of pancakes Pepper put in front of him and before he knew it, Ned was walking through the door.

After a very exited introduction, they wheeled him into the lab. All the while Ned was loudly whispering "dude, I just met Tony Stark".

When they finally got down, Mr Stark immediately had Friday get out the hologram tables.

"Let's see what you two have come up with" he said motioning to the suitcase and backpack Ned had brought with him.

He pulled out Peter's backup webshooters which were a bit behind his current ones. A cannisters of webs. All the scanning equipment and modified police radios they had accumulated, the tube of Triple A Batteries. Even some old things that they had long since benched.

Peter and Ned gave Mr Stark the origin story and evolution of each piece of tech that they had. 

Then came Ned's laptop. The Holy Grail of their tech. They set up the computer on the workbench. They connected the car battery energy generator. They carefully hooked up all the scanners and the different things until they had it completely set up.

When they finish their explanation Mr Stark's eyes were wide with disbelief. 

"You guys did all that on your own" he asked incredulously.

This nodded their heads.

"Ok well, first things first today we can work partially on the suit but we need to rework that tech so we can eventually integrate it into the suit. I'll have Frida deconstruct the coding so I can get a good look at it and help you rework some of it" he told them.

The 2 friends looked at eachother like they had just won the lottery.

They worked well into the afternoon. Mostly working on what the new suit would be able to do. Mr Stark looked at the web formula and the web-shooters and helped Peter touch up the design for better distance and more accurate shots.

Eventually they decided to completely restart from scratch since all the parts were the cheapest rings available.

Peter was exited to even be working on them with him.

With Ned he helped make a new computer. They got good parts this time and they copied and edited the code into the new software. The best part was that the new computer soI'd need any of the extra machines and would instead have it all built in, and be lighter. The suitcase would stay at the tower to keep anyone from getting suspicious at the Leeds house. They down the afternoon swapping Spiderman stories and eventually Mr Stark started regaling them with roses of Ironman and the rest of the Avengers. Eventually they started talking about weird conspiracy and fan theory's about the Avengers. Apparently Mr Stark had never heard of those.

"Come on Mr Stark, there's a whole subreddit dedicated to those, r/Avengersconspiracytheories" Peter said amused that he had never heard of them.

"What's a subreddit" he asked clearly confused.

"Ned, were gonna have to speak boomer to him" Peter said sounding slightly disappointed.

"I guess even the great Ironman had to have his flaws" Ned said solemnly.

"Friday, okay the coffin dance song, we need a moment of silence for Mr Stark's youth" Peter said bowing his his head.

Ned followed suite as a ridiculously upbeat song played from the speaker.

"What in the world just happened" Mr Stark said confused.

"And what's with this music" he demanded.

"Boss, I believe Peter and Ned just mourned your youth in the form of a meme" Friday supplied helpfully.

"What's a meme" he asked dumbly.

"Oof, he really has aged" Peter said with a cheeky smile

"That's it, out of the lab, I can barely handle you on a good day Parker. You having Ted around just upped your weird Gen Z humour. We're done for the day.

"Mr Stark" Peter whined.

"Nope, I like you, and I'd like to continue doing so" he said already pushing them to the door.

It turned out to be an excellent place to stop since it was time for both of them to be droppee off at their appartments.

Happy drove the 2 teenagers to their respective images all the while grumbling about how this was way below his paygrade. Thankfully Peter's leg had healed enough that Mr Stark agreed to let him not use a wheelchair or crutches, so he didn't need to worry about being escorted up by the man.

All in all, Peter called it a successful day. Especially after he settled into his bed that night without having to worry about sleeping on his leg wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the wait, I'll try to post again before the end of the week. I'm just trying to get this story going in a good directions now. Up until a few chapters ago, I was completely building up the the big reveal. I know the final ending I'm working towards, just not now I'm gonna get there. Stay safe. Until next time.  
> ~V


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang watches a movie together and we end off with some Peter and Tony fluff.

Peter spent the next few days in bed with May fretting over him. She only let him go the bathroom or the couch. On the the day after he came back he tried to make lunch for her, but the look she gave him was enough to deter him from trying that again.

Thankfully she allowed Ned and MJ to come over for their usual Friday night movie.

When they arrived they brought a t-shirt that said "I survived my trip to NYC" with the addition "... barley" written in with permanent marker.

When May saw it she snorted and brought out the snack bowls for them since Peter was confined to the couch.

"I can't believe you actually got shot and thought that you could clean it out with less than the dregs of hydrogen peroxide" MJ said with disbelief.

"I didn't want to waste it" he said his voice rising up an octive.

"So you decided to waste some specially engineered anesthetic instead" she said raising an eyebrow with a smile.

He looked down and mumbled a quick "maybe". 

To which she started laughing.

"You really are something else Parker" she said once the laughter subsided.

Ned just watched the exchange with a look that Peter couldn't place.

Thankfully May chose that moment to walk in with all the goodies for the night.

"Do you guys want drinks, or do you typically not have any" she asked after the bowls were safely on the side tables.

"Sometimes one of us gets generous and splurges on either pop or slushies if it's hot enough" MJ told her.

May, went to the the 2 liter bottle of ginger ale they had in the pantry for them. The pop was really more so reserved for more formal guests. But none of them had a problem with it.

"I didn't expect you guys to need anything else" she said with a laugh.

"Don't worry about it, this is what happens at mine and Ned's house too" MJ said opening the cap carefully so not to get it everywhere.

It was MJ's turn to pick and to absolutely no one's suprise, it was The Hunger Games.

They had a pretty good time. They mocked the capital accents along with Katniss and Gale and started discussing their own survival plans.

It was concluded that either Peter would win due to strategic planning and the fact that he knew how to fight combined with his super strength, or that he would die in a really dumb way. Probably the latter.

Eventually they fell asleep.

The next morning after Ned and MJ had left, he went to his room to work on his hometown to wait for Happy to let him know that he was at the door.

Peter had wanted to go home with May, but Mr Stark's condition was that he spend a few days there, then go back to the tower where he could keep an eye on him. It also helped that Thursday and Friday night were the only nights of the week/end that she didn't have the night shift. 

When Happy got there, he found Peter waiting in the hallways with a backpack May having already left for her next shift.

"You're not supposed to be up yet" he said in lieu of greeting.

"My leg feels fine" he insisted.

"At least give me the backpack so Tony doesn't kill me.

Reluctantly Peter handed him the bag and they headed down the hall.

"What are you doing kid" Happy asked when Peter headed to the stair well.

"Going down" Peter said.

"Get in the elevator" Happy said motioning to the open door.

"It's not a very good elevator, I usually take the stairs" Peter explained thinking of its heavy tobacco scent that had long since been imbedded in it's walls.

"Kid, do you want Tony to come for my hide" Happy said, clearly done with the situation.

Peter realized he wasn't winning this one so he took a deep breath and walked into the elevator.

Happy didn't comment on the fact that he didn't breath in the elevator until they were in the car.

"So what was that about" he asked.

"What was what about" Peter said confused.

"You didn't breath in the elevator. You held your breath the entire time" he said slowly as if Peter didn't remember.

"Oh ya, uhhh, see the smell of smoke always bothered me. Even before the bite. But after, taking even a small breath in there is basically asking for a migraine" he explained sheepishly.

Happy nodded and continued driving.

When they got to the tower he found Mr Stark waiting for them with a wheelchair.

Peter quickly got out of the car grabbing his bag and attempted to make a mad dash for the elevator. 

Unfortunately he felt a firm hand on his shoulders before he got too far.

"Nice try kid, but make it easier on both of us and just get in the wheelchair" Mr Stark said with a smug smile.

Peter got on with a sigh and Mr Stark immediately put up the foot rest for him to prop his injured leg on.

Once he was settled he brought him up to the Medbay and helped him onto the bed.

A few minutes later Cho walked in with a rolling x-ray machine.

She took a few pictures and had a look at the injury.

After prodding at the skin and applying a cream for swellingon it, she declared him healed. But she added that she still wanted him to stay home in Monday. Just as extra insurance.

Mr Stark let him make dinner for them. Peter decided that pasts sounded like a great meal. Plus Mr Stark was Italian, so he figured he would appreciate the meal. So he made sure that he had everything and started on the flour volcano. 

"Remember that you can make as much as you want and take the leftovers home with you. I have enough to feed you 1000 times over", Mr Stark reminded him from where he was on the kitchen stool having some coffee.

Peter took that to heart and made enough leftovers to last him a week.

Dinner ended up being delicious. Chicken Alfredo was a good go to that Peter had found himself making a lot lately. And thus, he'd had plenty of time to perfect it.

"I didn't know you could cook kid" Mr Stark said after a few bites, clearly enjoying the food.

"Well May can't, and I like eating things that are actually edible, so I taught myself" Peter explained.

They spent the rest if the meal joking around and telling story's of all the bad food that May in Peter's case, and himself in Mr Stark's case, that had been made for them

A few hours later, once Peter finished the rest of his homework, they decided to watch a movie.

"What movie do you want to see kid" Mr Stark asked from the listen where he was making hot chocolate and icecream.

"Star Wars?" Peter asked 

"Sure, why not, it's been a while since I've seen them anyways" he said mixing the cocoa powder in the hot milk. 

They settled on the couch and enjoyed the sweet vanilla icecream to contrast with with rich chocolate.

As usual Peter fell asleep towards the end of the movie. 

"Kid" came the gentle voice of Mr Stark waking him up.

"Yeah" he mumbled.

"You fell asleep on me, I think you probably want to get up to sleep in a real bed tonight bud" he said gently.

Peter took a minute to process what he was saying before shooting up from his mentors lap.

"Sorry sorry sorry" Peter said standing up his face heating up.

"Kid, relax it's fine. Actually I think it's pretty adorable" he said with a teasing smile. But Peter didn't see anything malicious behind it.

"Really" he said softly, his voice filled with wonder.

"Surprisingly, yes. I don't know what you did to me kid, but I love having you around. You make things better somehow" he said pulling him into a hug.

When Pepper walked in the next morning have been out on a business trip, she found them snuggled on the couch sleeping soundly.

After snapping a few quickly pictures on her phone, she silently pumped her fist into the fair whispering 'finally'.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone. Sorry for the lack of updates lately, felt kinda uninspired. But I honestly love the way the chapter turned out. I will probably edit it a bit more in the morning so it's not as clean as it's going to be yet.
> 
> Also, I finally posted a few one shots. They feature memes and fun stuff like that. So far there's 2, featuring the Coffin Dance and 2 eyed Mike Wazoski from Monsters Inc. If that interests you than feel free to check them out


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter hangs out with Mr Stark before being told by Friday that someone really hates modern art.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, so I said I would hopefully post a new chapter by the end of the week, and depending on your timezone, I either succeeded or failed. But, I do intend to post 2 new chapters this week. So if I failed in your timezone, then you get a bonus chapter this week lol.

A few weeks later, the late November air was in full force. Thankfully, Peter now had a suit with a built in heater. 

"Peter, Mr Stark is inviting you to dinner tonight, would you like me to accept" said Karen. 

Karen was Peter's AI that Mr Stark helped him make. Although there were certain protocols that Peter had no say in, Karen was basically Peter's friend in the suit. Ned still helped with Guy in the Chair stuff, but he was a bit more hands off now. It worked out better since Ned could stop stressing out over all of Peter's injuries. He and Ned had picked the name together, she was named after Plankton's wife from Spongebob. Their favorite show from when they were younger.

"What time is dinner tonight" he asked glancing at the small clock in the corner of the HUD display. Since today was Friday, and May was working the night shift, Peter was aloud to stay over at the tower so long as he told May.

"In an hour, if you accept I recommend starting to head to the tower now. That way you'll have plenty of time to spare to stop a few crimes" she said.

"Tell him I'm on my way" he said as he let out a loud 'whoop' having done a particularly long swing.

"Right away Peter."

He started towards Manhattan. He got a couple kittens out trees and stopped a few bike thieves along the way. He texted May a quick picture of a small white kitten after asking the little girl who owned it. She was delighted that someone else found Snowball, her kitten, just as adorable as she did. 

With that, he told May that he would be staying at the tower tonight.

Finally, the tower came into view.

"Hey Mr Stark" he said jumping in from one of the windows.

"Kid, its Tony" he said exasperated.

"Ok" he said taking off the mask.

"You're not actually gonna call me that, are you" Mr Stark said taking a sip of his coffee.

"No comment" 

"You are impossible Parker" he said rolling his eyes.

"I just don't see the problem with me showing you a little respect" Peter said walking down the hallways to his room to change.

"The problem is that you make me feel old, and that we have a friendly, open relationship. No need for your "Mr's" and "Sir's" anymore" he said following him.

Peter just gave him a mischievous look and closed his door.

With Pepper out for the week in Hong Kong for a business trip, that led the pair into ordering in Chinese. They liked to keep the explosions and fires contained to the lab thank you very much.

They settled into the couch with their takeout for a movie. Today was Peter's turn to pick, that meant that it was Star Wars time.

At this point Tony more or less expected to watch at least one Star Wars movie whenever it was Peter's turn to pick. And he surprisingly found himself looking forward to them.

They ended up watching 2 of the movies before heading back down to the lab.

"Could you walk me through your webs again kid, I just can't seem to get it right" said Mr Stark.

He had been trying to master making Peter's webs for months now. But it never ended up being quite right. Sometimes it blew up on his face, other times it wasn't sticky enough, or it was too sticky. Other times he got the elasticity wrong. Always too much or too little. But even if he got those wrong, it refused to compact itself into areosol cans. There were about a dozen other things that he had managed to get the webs to do wrong, but those seemed to be the most reccuring ones.

"Here, let's do this again" Peter said bringing over 2 of everything he needed via sticking them to random parts of his body.

Tony shook his head in amazement. Both of the fact that Peter just did that, and the fact that he did it so casually.

Peter carefully set out the ingredients all the while explaining that certain ingredients should never be too close to other ones and that after doing certain steps he should never wait to long before adding the next ingredient. 

Tony tried keeping up, but he got lost about halfway through while Peter was speeding ahead so he didn't miss the window in which it was best to pressurize it in.

He did need a refill after all.

"Mr Stark, I don't understand" Peter said looking at the pile of sludge that was supposed to be a neat shot of webs.

"Neither do I kid. And all this makes me a lot more impressed about the fact that you made these in a highschool chemistry class" he told him.

Peter ducked his head to hide his blush.

"Ah...well, I got a bit lucky with this formula, I accidentally added a bit more sodium nitrate that I meant to but it looked good so I kept going with it. It ended up blowing up but I figured I had all the right things just all the wrong quantities. Took me a few more tries but eventually I got it" Peter explained embarrassed at the praise.

"Still kid, don't sell yourself short, this formula is nothing short of amazing" Mr Stark said putting a hand into his shoulder.

After that they abandoned the webs in favour of working on the suit.

Until Friday decided to interrupt them that is.

"Peter, the Museum of Modern Arts appears to be under attack" said Friday.

"On it" Peter said already grabbing his suit.

"I'll be back in about an hour Mr Stark" he said already changed and running towards the elevator.

He swung to the Museum and found a familiar face, well, arm(s).

"Metal Man, it's been a while" he said while swinging from behind.

"Spiderman, I was hoping you would show up" he said.

Immediately Peter knew he was in trouble. Just quickly glancing at Metal Man's structure he noticed that he had had an upgrade since he last saw him. His legs were a bit further apart than last time l, and they were now in a hexagonal formation with an extra 2 legs in the middle. The change in his form made him more structurally sound and harder to topple over. It also made it much harder to disable him.

Peter immediately started swinging in an attempt to started tangling his legs and trying to immobilize him. 

"If only there was a way to get rid of a bug like you, oh wait" Metal Man exclaimed. 

A minute later one of the arms of his suit extended revealing a spray can attached to something clearly meant to spray it. The arm follows Peter around before releasing whatever was inside onto Peter's face.

Within a few seconds Peter's nostrils were invaded from the heavy scent of Axe body spray.

The spray kept coming. It wouldn't stop.

Already his enhanced senses were too sensitive for such strong scents and he generally avoided axe, bleach and most disinfectants if he could, but to have it directly in his face, and so much of it, it made him lose concentration. It was only for a second but be missed when he needed to send our another web after having disengaged firm his current one.

That second was a that was needed and he started free-falling. The wind rushed through his suit, doing little to dissipate the strong scent of the axe. His eyes burned as well as his nose. Thankfully he still had a bit of control left and he used it all listen to his Spidey sense when it yelled at him to shoot a web. 

He still hit the ground, but he didn't even think any of his ribs cracked.

Unfortunately for him, more arms extended towards him, all with harsh chemicals aimed towards his face.

His body trying to get clean oxygen into his lungs started coughing, but all that did was invited more toxins into his body.

"Not so brave now little Spider, are you" taunted Metal Man from above.

Dark spots started swimming in his vision, but he knew it would be more dangerous for him to pass out than if he were to stay awake, even if it meant taking in more scents. 

When a bright red and gold suit appeared in his vision, he was pretty sure that it was too late and he had already passed out and started dreaming. But something told him to keep fighting, so he stayed awake, his lungs hacking away at all the fumes, his eyes burning more and more everytime he blinked. 

He hears a few crashing noises and suddenly Mr Stark was in front of him.

"Hey hey hey, Spidey, you good" he asked taking in his condition.

When all Peter did was glare at him as best he could between coughs, he had the decency to look sheepish.

"Right...not doing so hot" he said gently patting Peter's back.

"I'm gonna lift you up and fly you to the tower ok" he asked already scooping Peter up in his arms.

Peter was glad because he knew he would probably get some oxygen in his lungs faster.

They quickly took off and that was when Peter really what a mistake it really was.

Since Mr Stark tended to fly between the higher height of the tallest building in New York, but also lower than any aircraft were aloud to be, the oxygen was a little thin up here.

On a normal flight that would probably cause some mild lightheadedness, or maybe, maybe, a headache if he spent long enough up there, but since Peter was already running low on oxygen, that was all he needed to pass out.

"M'tr St'k" Peter mumbled trying to get his attention.

"Yeah bud" he said immediately noticing that something wasn't quite right.

"C'n 'e go l'wr" he asked.

Could you repeat that" he requested gentlynit understanding.

But that was apperantly all Peter's body could take.

Just as he opened his mouth to try again, he promptly passed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooh, cliffhanger. Exciting. Sorry about that, but it seemed like such a good moment to send it off. Sorry.
> 
> Idk if anyone noticed but there was an ever so slight perspective change in this chapter. I'm not sure if it felt too natural, but I think it added a bit more depth.


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here we see the aftermath if the last chapter as well as some Tony and Peter fluff.

He woke up to the gentle beeping of the heart monitor. His eyes were still closed and he was debating whether or not it was worth it to open them when he realized there was something covering the lower half of his face.

Still keeping his eyes closed he blindly lifted his arms up to find whatever it was and get it off. His hands felt stiff, like he was wearing fingered oven mitts making it difficulties to use his fingers for much. His arms were heavy as if there was an elastic band going form his wrist to the bed making it hard to move them properly.

He vaguely heard some gentle thumps coming from somewhere, but he was too focused on getting whatever it was on his face, off, to really notice it.

"Hey hey hey Pete, leave that on ok" came a gentle voice. Peter definitely knew who it was, but couldn't be bothered to remember right now.

He heard the owner of the voice put something down and gently grab his wrists. There's was some shuffling and one of his wrists were let go, but the other one was sandwiched by 2 palms.

"Pete, could you open your eyes for me" the voice asked gently. 

Peter took a minute trying to remember who was taking to him, but he figured that seeing the person would be the most helpful.

He relaxed all his muscles and focused his energy soley on his eyelids. When he cracked them open the first time, he immediately screwed them shut. The lights burned his pupils.

Apparently the voice noticed because he heard him ask Friday to turn the lights down to 30 percent.

Something about that rung a bell. "Friday, Friday.... that's it" Peter thought.

"M'r St'rk?" he mumbled.

"Yeah that's be bud, no more talking though ok, you still need a bit more oxygen and you talking isn't helping the cause" he told him gently running one of his thumbs over Peter's knuckles.

"Wh't t'me 's it' he slurred out.

"8 in the morning kid, you took quite the power nap there.

Peter tried again to open his eyes. This time, the lights were lower and didn't burn. But it was still hard. His eyes felt like there was just the thinnest layer of glue on his waterlines. He got them open once, twice, and while he still had momentum, he blinked his eyes quickly, or at least as quickly as he could, to get them awake.

Once he was able to keep his eyes open, he tilted his head to look at Mr Stark.

"Hey" he whispered.

"Hey yourself said Mr Stark with a small smile.

"Although I remember specifically telling you to not talk, did I not" he said with a playfully authoritative tone.

"Sorry" he said quietly.

"Just don't say anything else and I won't tell the doc" he said ruffling his hair.

Peter rolled his eyes but decided that a vow of silence sounded good right about now.

"Speak of the devil" Mr Stark said a few minutes later, "Big Green, how's it been going for you" he exclaimed as soon as he saw Dr Banner walk into the room.

Peter shot him a confirmation look.

Mr Stark evidently noticed and quickly explained.

"With your altered biology, Cho wanted to have an expert have a look at your charts and what we know about you so we can avoid anything that might be dangerous for you to have. Our first thought was having a look at Caps charts, but he was injected with the super serum. Bruce over here though, was exposed to gamma radiation. So although it's not a perfect match, its better than nothing."

Peter nodded.

"Helen's having me do a practice run with you so I can get to know what your recovery time and whatnot is" Bruce told him.

Mr Stark let go of his hand in case Bruce needed him to do something.

He walked over to Peter and put his hand so it hovered over his chest. He silently asked permission and when Peter nodded he out light pressure on his sternum. 

"Just breathe normally" he told him.

A few breaths later he seemed satisfied. He walked over to one of the machines and looked at the stats that were being shown. Then he turned back to Peter.

"It's a good time to switch you over the a nasal cannula now" he announced.

Bruce quickly made the switch and seated himself at the foot of the bed with a clipboard. He asked Peter how he was feeling asking about his head lungs his chest and then Peter couldn't help himself.

"So... exactly what did happened?" 

Mr Stark quickly jumped in since Bruce didn't know the whole story.

"So we were in the lab as usual when Friday told you about something going on at the MoMA and you just left, which by the way, we will talk about later," he sent Peter a pointed look, "unfortunately I forgot my current suit, the Mark 40 was under repair and it took me a few minutes to remember before I finally summoned the Mark 39. By the time I got there, the dude with all the extra long metal limbs had you down on the ground in a cloud of disinfectants and spray on deodorants so powerful that even I was getting lightheaded. But there was some peppermint. I blasted him to the sky and then got you and started flying back to the tower. But I guess I flew a bit to high cause you passed out after a few minutes" he explained.

"That sucks majorly" Peter said.

"That it does kid, but what can you do" he said patting his hand.

He was discharged from the Medbay with a warning that it was possible that his body might still react to some of the chemicals that he inhaled yesterday and if it got too bad, to call either Dr Cho or Dr Banner.

He wanted to sleep more and Mr Stark was all too happy to let him rest for a few more hours.

When he woke up Mr Stark suggested watching some movies instead of heading down to the lab, to which Peter readily agreed. He still didn't feel 100% and doing anything in the lab would take too much out of him to do anything productive.

Once Peter was situated on the couch with a thick blanket, Mr Stark went to the kitchen to pop a casserole that Pepper left him in the oven and to get them some hot chocolate.

About 30 minutes into the movie he gets a very light headache. But Peter is a child of Gen Z dang it. And he's spent many a sick days doing nothing but watch YouTube videos with a bit of a headache so he figured he can just power through. But the longer they watched, the worst his headache got. 

"Kid, Peter, what's wrong bud "Mr Stark asked, "and don't tell me it's nothing, you're crying" he said swing the look on Peter's face.

Peter didn't even notice that until he mentioned it.

"I, uhh, it's just a headache sir, it's nothing to really worry about, it'll pass" Peter told him quickly wiping away at the tears.

"Kid, that doesn't look "just a headache"". You're crying. It's probably gotten pretty serious if you're crying" he pointed out running a hand through his hair.

"I'm fine, really" Peter insisted.

"Come on, let's get you to the Medbay" Mr Stark said standing up suddenly offering his hand to Peter.

"We don't need to bother them, I'm sure I'll be fine by lunchtime" Peter said just as the oven went off.

Peter winced. If that wasn't what you called ironic timing, he didn't ever want to hear irony used again.

Mr Stark just smirked and moved his hand closer to Peter. 

"Come on kid, we have some doctors to see."

Dr Banner and Dr Cho concluded after some intensive questioning that it was probably just the painkillers they had given him wearing off. They had theorized that because of the fact that he passed out before he had a chance to rid himself of all the fumes that to would cause a delayed reaction. It explained the initial grogginess from when he had woken up. They and hoped that since his body had gotten over that so quickly that he wouldn't need another side if the painkillers. Especially since it was specially made for Captains America and they didn't know how fast his body would metabolize it. Since they didn't want to risk him overdosing they had decided to play it safe.

They give him another dose and send him back upstairs where Peter went to take another nap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, hope you're all doing good. This chapter is kind of a filler, but at the same time, I feel like it introduces a couple plot points which I will be bringing back for better or for worse soon. Hope you enjoyed.
> 
> Just a quick gentle reminder that if you're interested I have a couple of one shots about Peter being a teen surrounding by adults and confusing them through the power of memes.


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's some of the after math from the last chapter and a surprise guest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This isn't a very good chapter but nothing was coming to me. I'm so sorry, next chapter should be better.

When he walked out of his room in his favorite fuzzy pajama bottoms and an old Midtown sweater he didn't expect for anyone but Mr Stark to see him. And the man had seen him in his pajamas a lot already. Including this particular combination.

What he didn't expect to see, was Colonel Rhodes dresses in full milletary dress having a cup of coffee at the counter.

He stopped dead in his tracks, his brain still trying to figure out what was in front of him. 

The Colonel heard him and turned around

"And who might you be" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"Peter, sir, Peter Parker" he responded nervously.

"And why are you in the tower" he asked.

"Uhhh, I fell asleep" it came out sounding like a question.

"Couldn't you 'fall asleep' at home" he asked clearly getting suspicious.

"Uhhhhhhh" Peter really didn't know how to respond to this. He and Mr Stark hadn't really talked much about what to say about what to tell the other Avengers.

"Kid, I don't know who you are, or what your doing here, so why don't you go take a seat in the living room and wait for Tony to get here. You're probably a security risk so don't expect to go home too soon, or at least not without a bug" he said slowly taking Peter by the shoulder and leads him to the couch which he and Mr Stark had ironically watched a movie on the night before.

Colonel Rhodes walked back to the kitchen and thanks to Peter's enhanced hearing he could tell that he was on call with Mr Stark.

"Hey Tony, there's a kid in the living room. I think he night have hacked Friday or something, she didn't say anything...curly brown hair, I think he has brown eyes... You're coming, great" he heard one side of the conversation.

A few minutes later he heard the familiar ding of the elevator. 

"Hey kid, so I guess I should introduce you to-" Mr Stark said walking into the living room.

"Why do you look like I've called the firing squad on you" he asked.

"I, I didn't expect you to have company sir" Peter said nervously.

"Oh ya, sorry kid. My bad. This," he said gesturing to Colonel Rhodes, "is Rhody, my best friend and the only reason I'm still alive."

"Dang straight" said the Colonel.

"But seriously, Tony, who is this" he asked curiously.

"This, is my intern, Peter Parker. Remembering Boonton" he asked looking at him for confirmation. When the Colonel nodded he continued, "well, he took the kid in and all that, I sat through a meeting cause Pepper threatened to shut down Friday, anyways, I arrive at the meeting, and there's the kid right. And he's absolute brilliant. And unlike all those other guys, he actually cares about what he's talking about, gets real excited-" 

"Get to the point Tony, come on already. You're killing me over here" the Colonel interrupts clearly getting impatient.

"I'm getting to it Platypus, you need context "he says shaking a finger at him, "anyways, so the kid is brilliant right, so I get R&D on his ideas right away. And I invited myself to the next meeting. The kid's really quite this time though, but final I get him to talk. Once I get the ball rolling, he doesn't shut up, and honestly, I didn't mind. I come back again the next week, but this time the kid isn't there. I ask 'ole Boonton where he is and he tells me the kids doing paperwork. I go and hunt him down, and apparently Boonton fed the kid some BS about how he doesn't understand how the company runs or whatever and has the kid do paperwork. I did some digging and it turns out Boonton didn't have Peter with him legally. But I couldn't send the kid away, so I offered him and internship and here we are" Mr Stark explained.

Colonel Rhodes looks between the two of them in disbelief.

"Kid, you must really be done special if you got Tony "I thought that giving myself food poisoning to get out of a meeting was a good idea" Stark to come to 3 meetings I a row" he told him.

"He's exaggerating, I just had a couple ideas that the others didn't think of. Really, I didn't do much" Peter said ducking his head blushing.

"No need to be modest, your amazing kid, smarter than maybe even me when I was your age" Mr Stark said clapping a hand on his shoulder.

"So you are special kid, Tony would never say something like that if he didn't mean it. Plus, he looks happy when he said that, that's what's most impressive here" Colonel Rhodes said.

"It's impossible not to love him" Mr Stark said fondly.

"I'm just a kid from Queens sir, nothing special about that" Peter said hanging his head slightly.

"Don't ever sell yourself short you hear me, talent doesn't care about where you're from or who you are. And oof you've got talent, but more importantly, you've got heart. People with heart, even if they don't have talent will do sometimes in their lives, and you, with both, will change the world one day" Mr Stark said getting down in front of Peter cupping his face.

"Thanks Mr Stark, that means a lot" Peter said quietly.

Rhody was taken aback, did he just watch his best friend act like that. Because if he did, then the kid must be amazing.

After that, the 3 if them worked together and made a nice breakfast together. Rhody couldn't help but notice the fact that they were making way more food than the 3 of them could conceivably eat, but neither of the other 2 seemed to notice.

"Hey, Peter, Tony, isn't this a bit much food" he asked gesturing to the large stack of bacon and pancakes with more on the griddle.

The other 2 looked at eachother seemingly having a silent conversation.

"I'm Spiderman" Peter blurted out.

Rhody looked between the 2 of them. This scrawny highschool kid was Spiderman, the vigilante who he'd seen catch buses with his bare hands on YouTube. The vigilante who was able to do dizzying tricks with his webs between the skyscraper of New York. 

"Is that why you picked him for the internship'' he asked.

"Nope, I didn't even find out until well after the internship started. The kids genuine smart, I wasn't lying about any of that earlier. It was a lucky coincidence though" Tony said winking.

Later, while Peter and Mr Stark were in the lab, Mr Stark pulled up his chair up to Peter's workstation.

"So kid, we had a look at all the scans of last night, and it looks like Met Man was targeting you specifically. We found that the chemicals yiu inhaled with the amount you inhaled probably wouldn't have affected a normal person as much as you did. But with your enhanced senses, it affected those more than most people" Mr Stark explained.

"Oh, what does that mean for me" Peter asked.

"It means I'm gonna build a better filtration system that can probably be toggled on or off when you need it" Mr Stark said.

"Ok" Peter said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, wow, I'm really sorry about this chapter. It was not coming to me, and I want to slowly start introducing the Avengers as set up for later. I'm not happen with it, but the next chapter should be better and a bit more exciting.


	26. Chapter 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We see a very stressed out Peter, followed by a very *de*stresses Peter, followed up by some fluff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiii, so warning, the second half of the chapter is so much better than the second half of it.
> 
> Quick heads up, I haven had a chance to edit, I was just really excited to post. I'll be editing either tomorrow morning, or tomorrow evening.
> 
> And special treat, I think I'm gonna try to post 3 times this week since none of the chapters are particularly exciting.

He looked at the complicated weave of the fabric that was soon to be underneath the familiar red of his non existent mouth. 

He was currently working on adding small bits of tubing throughout the suit under the black lines of the fake webbing and meet up both at the mouth, and small cannisters of pressurized oxygen scattered at low impact points. He had already planned out so it would loop around and eventually around and expel CO2 from the system. It was an incredibly precise task and he couldn't risk any distra-

"Hey kid" Mr Stark said loudly entering the lab.

-ctions. He pulled his hand up, fingers already hovering over the button to unleash his webs, causing him to pull out more than an hour's worth of tubing in a fraction of a second.

"Mr Stark" Peter whined, "I was nearly done, but now you've just made me mess up everything I've been doing for the past hour."

"Sorry kid, but it's time for you to take a break" Mr Stark said.

"Can't, I want to get this done before I leave tonight, and every minute is gold as of right now" Peter said turning back to the task at hand.

"Not an option kid, it'll only be a half hour, and all this will still be here when you get back" Mr Stark said grabbing his arm.

"Mr Stark, I have to first get all the tubing through the loops I've made, then give it a quick test pull all the loops tighter and glue them on, and I still haven't figured out an easy way it replace the cannisters" Peter said pulling away already trying to figure out what kind of stitch would work best despite the fact that he would r be getting there for at least another 4 hours.

"Nope, Spider baby's need a break every once in a while, and you've already been here for a few hours" Mr Stark said pulling him towards the elevator.

Once they were up, Mr Stark immediately sent Peter to the kitchen ignoring his offers to make them lunch. 

They would have take-out, but Pepper had made a deal with Mr Stark that they only order take out for dinner, leaving them to make lunch themselves. Peter was more than happy to make lunch, but some days like today, Mr Stark insisted on being the adult. 

Having been banished from the kitchen, Peter went to the couch to out on some TV while they ate. He was gonna get Friday to put on a few episodes of Friends, but then he had a great idea.

//There's a 104 of summer vacation/then school comes along just to end it/and the annual problem for our generation is finding a good way to spend it/like maybe...//

Tony heard the opening theme to some show from the kitchen, but he couldn't tell where it was from. It wasn't any show he recognized, nor was it one of the shows that Peter tended to rotate between whenever he picked.

When he walked into the living room with a small stack of grilled cheese on a plate, he glanced at the TV.

"What in the world are you watching kid" he asked very confused.

"Phineas and Ferb" was all Peter said.

Tbeu sat and watched a few episodes of the show together. Tony actually found himself enjoying it. It had a very specific formula and was easily predictable but that really let the dialogue shine through.

Eventually he let Peter back into the lab. But this time he insisted on helping him. 

He looked at the task in front of him. It seemed easy enough, all he needed to do was create small sheaths of stiffer fabric around the inside of the waist of the suit. But it was proving much more difficult than that. He needed to align it all with the openings of the thin tubes the kid had already installed. And then he had to connect them to the mainframe of the suit so the filtration system could be activated via Karen, the kids AI.

Meanwhile Peter was currently working on small points in which CO2 would make its escape so not to suffocate him.

Several hours later, the suit was finally done. The plan was to remove it and have it on standby once they caught Metal Man. The ordinary mugger might have on him, at most, pepper spray, and Peter's mask was made of a thick enough material that it would barley sting so long as he washed it off within 5 minutes after the initial spray. So he wouldn't need it after, or at least that was the hope. The tubing also added extra bulk which Peter was not a fan of.

The two settled down on the couch and quickly pulled up a movie with pizza along with them.

The movie was good, calm. Maybe too calm though. Peter fell asleep partway through.

He felt like he was watching from the outside but was still him.He was walking down a street, he had a lot of angst in his step. He felt some serious déjà vue right now. Spring was in full force in the form of trees in various stages of budding, only a handful of trees actually flaunting fully grown leaves with a random smattering of pink cherry blossom trees everywhere. All in all it was pleasent day to be out. But Peter felt a sense of dread. He watched himself walk past a corner store, and suddenly Peter understood. 

"Peter" called out a man in a blue uniform.

Peter watched himself ignore the man's calls.

Eventually the man caught up with him and when he pulled his shoulders to get him to turn around, he realized Peter was crying.

Ben held Peter whispering things about how it was ok to be angry sometimes, even at him and May, as long as he remembered that no matter that they loved him. 

Peter remembered how he had only cried harder when Ben had told him that. But his uncle had held him tighter against him. 

Peter had really thought it would all work out in the end.

He watched the pair make their way into the corner store to by some candy when a robber walked in. 

Since Ben was still in uniform, he tried to get the mugger to put his gun down. The mugger turned to Ben and held out the gun. Peter watched his past self realize what was happening before the trigger was pulled. The world seemed to go in slow motion as he watched his past self hear the trigger. Ben was shot, and the coward ran out of the store without so much as a pack of gum to show for it.

Pete watched his pastt self kneel down next to Bed holding him, crying. 

"Peter" someone said shaking his shoulder.

"Peter" came the voice again.

The scene slowly faded to black as the voice and the hand continued.

He realized his eyes were closed and tried to open them only the find something wet in his waterlines.

He blinked a few times to get rid of the wetness.

"You ok there kid" Mr Stark asked, his voice gentle and caring.

"Yeah, I'm fine" Peter said.

"And I'm the president. Seriously kid, what's wrong- and don't tell me it's nothing, you're crying" Mr Stark said firmly but gently.

"It was just a dream" Peter mumbled wiping away at his tears with his sleeve.

"Do you want to talk about it" Mr Stark asked.

Peter was about to say no, when he realized that he actually wanted to say yes. The only person he had told so far was Ned. He didn't want to bring it up with May since he knew that she would start crying.

So he told Mr Stark about the dream, and how it came back to haunt him every once in a while.

By the end of it, he was crying again. Mr Stark held him and let him cry. 

Once Peter's sobs had calmed down into the odd sniffle, he led him done the hall onto his bed, tucking him in tightly.

"Don't go yet. Please", Peter said grabbing onto his hand as Mr Stark tried leaving the room.

Mr Stark gave him a gentle smile.

"I won't Pete, promise" he said sitting back down on the edge of the bed, his hand never leaving Peter's.

"I'll be here every step of the way" he whispered long after Peter had fallen asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, so I started writing to meet my twice a week deadline/goal, and I didn't really know where it was going, but I'm glad I got there.
> 
> Reminder, I have not had a chance to edit it, I will be doing that in the morning or tomorrow evening so apologies for all the spelling errors that definately exist.
> 
> If you don't mind, I'd like some feedback specifically on Peter and Tony's relationship. I know that the way they met was a bit unconventional as far as fics go, so I've always been a bit worried about wether I'm progressing their relationship too fast or not. While I definitely won't be getting rid of anything if I have been progressing it too quickly, I'll definitely be sure to include more scenes about them together and developing their relationship from there.


	27. Chapter 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something weird is going on at SI, but what.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is another unedited chapter that I was too excited to put out. It's like 2 in the morning right now so cut me some slack lol.
> 
> I'm really sorry about this, but your probably won't be getting a third chapter this week. Inspiration has been a bit dry lately. Sorry.

Metal Man was seen 3 more times over the next few weeks. With the ventilation system now up and running, Peter was able to fityh him. But somehow, he always got away. Only S.H.I.E.L.D really had the ability to arrest him, and they were always too slow. and as close an eye as Peter tried to keep on him, the limbs disappeared and no one was anywhere near where it was supposed to be.Winter was finally settling in, and Peter was hoping that the cold would deter him, even if only for a few months. Unfortunately, there were reports of a large shipments of anti-freeze going missing, so his dream was dashed.

It was a peaceful Friday in late November and Peter was in the tower as usual. He and Mr Stark were currently in a competition to see who could design the better mini-robot. The aim was to build useful things that could be used around the lab. While the 2 enjoyed working on their suits, either together or apart, they needed someone to focus on, something with an end goal. And a competition was the perfect thing. 

Peter was currently working on a small bot that would magnetically find and grab any screws that they dropped. It happened more often then they'd like to admit. It wouldn't be a massive problem if Mr Stark had better stamina. Last week he had fallen and hurt his back and was on bed-rest for a few days. And with Peter constantly changing in and out of his cloths and the suit, his foot was well aquainted with he feeling of the thread of screw after stepping on then a few too many times.

"Tony" came the voice of a furious Pepper from the doorway.

"What is it dear" Tony called from his workbench.

"We have that meeting now, and it's incredibly important you actually show up to this one" she said walking over and grabbing his arm.

"But what about the kid" he said stopping in his tracks and turning towards him.

"He can come, maybe then you'll actually behave" Pepper said already heading out the door.

The mentor and mentee looked at eachother and shrugged. They got up and followed her.

When they got to the meetings room, Peter recognized it as the meeting room that housed 'Mr Stark's Square Table'. He hadn't been here since he started working with the man.

The three of them sat down and waited for the others to arrive.

There were small electronic tablets that one could take notes or sketch on, so Peter grabbed one and started reformulating his webs. He now had something that worked with his taser webs, but it still lacked.

He was sketching away when he looked up at the sound of his name. 

Turns out that everyone had arrived and they were waiting on him.

He quickly sent the formula he had written down to Friday and wiped the tablet. 

Pepper started by talking about how they would need to market the Flood Vacuum. In the weeks he had been away, the first and second prototype were built and just last week they had a final product. 

Peter took small notes but earned most of them. Marketing wasn't really his strong point.

"I think Peter should present it to the investors" Mr Stark said.

"I-what, sir, I couldn't possibly do that" Peter said caught off guard.

"Sure you can kid. I know that you haven't seen the thing yet, but pretty much all your ideas are in there" Mr Stark said placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Umm, you should probably get someone more qualified to do it, like one of the scientists that worked on it" Peter said nervously. 

"Kid, the scientists wanted me to let you present it" he said reassuring him.

"Ok, I guess I could. If you an insist" Peter agreed reluctantly.

"Great" Mr Stark said clapping his hands together.

The rest of the meeting went fine. Peter zoned out afterwards since they started talking statistics and legistics.

One part that stuck out though, was the apperantly someone was selling unused and scrapped tech to some buyer named Ontobo. About 2 months ago, small amounts of unused or scrapped tech that was being sent to be taken apart and reprocessed had started going missing. Not only smaller things like scrap metal or spare wires, but it went as far as entire engines from the mechanical engineering department. While they didn't know the seller, they knew the buyer (Ontobo) was getting it for a hefty price. And they only knew this because one of the Stark employees investigating the case found a piece of paper listing it, and only that. They tried putting trackers, but apparently Ontobo had thought of that already because all the trackers no matter the size, shape or location, were always left in the same ditch on the side of a road. So far the case had been kept quite from the press. 

When they finally left the meeting room an hour later, Peter was beat. He went to take a nap in his room. Mr Stark and Pepper told him they would come and get him when their food arrived. It was already 8 in the evening so he would at most get 30 minutes of sleep. 

And sure enough, 30 minutes later he hobbled into the kitchen having been called by the sent of Thai food.

Dinner was a good time. Peter woke up again and was soon enough making plenty of jokes along with the other 2. 

Then, it was time for bed. Peter was about to protest saying he was good for a movie, but Pepper put her foot down reminding him that he was a teenager that had just attended a meeting with a bunch of adults, and that anyone would be exhausted after that.

So he reluctantly headed to bed.

He brushed his teeth and went through his nightly routine and tucked himself into the incredibly soft king sized bed with the warmest blankets he'd ever felt.

He looked out of the massive window in his room. The moon was full tonight, not a cloud in the sky. The velvety darkness created a beautiful backdrop for the buildings to rest against. The windows of all the buildings blinking on and off. The sound of a siren in the distance. If he focused enough, he could hear the faint chatter of the nightclub a few doors down. The City that Never Sleeps. A sign of the apocalypse should be that New York was quiete. But he moved the noise, the constant chatter. It was home, his home, and nothing would change that. So with the imprint of the New York City skyline still on his eyelids, he fell asleep.

He woke up in a cold sweat. His pajamas were drenched in it. He opened his eyes fighting off the sleep that he so desperately wanted. He had just had a nightmare, he didn't need another one.

He walked over to his closet and got a warm black hoodie that Mr Stark had gotten him along with an entire new wardrobe for his room in the tower. He pulled it over his head and slipped out of his room.

He quietly, so not to wake anyone, headed towards the elevator.

"Friday, roof" he whispered.

"Right away Peter" she said back just as quietly.

Once on the roof, he took a deep breath of the crisp November air. The sounds were clearer up here, the moon brighter.

There was a small garden up here. A large grassy area surrounded by shrubs and flowers and a few trees. It was clearly and area meant for picnics. But tonight Peter was content to lay down in the grass. It was cold, but as long as he stayed cold, he could avoid sleeping, and if he avoided sleeping, he could avoid nightmares. 

Nightmares didn't come often, once in a blue moon. They were usually about Ben. On night like tonight, Peter found it easily to stay awake. 

Unfortunately, his body had other ideas. The hoodie was warmer than expected. And the scent of dying flowers and leaves was strangely calming. So after a few minutes if staring at the moon, he was completely out.


	28. Chapter 28

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to advance the plot, hit it turned into a lot of fluff. So, oops?
> 
> This is unedited, sorry. I'll edit it soon.
> 
> This chapter was actually updated like 2 weeks ago but I accidentally back dated it so I'm putting the date as today. Sorry if you've already read it new chapter tonight (hopefully).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, if you could take the time to read the endnote, I would really appreciate that. I'm sorry I've been gone, but I explain more below.

"Kid, kid, wake up" said a voice. 

He felt hands around his torso shaking him awake.

He opened his eyes, blinking against the harsh sunlight.

He was confused, why was he outside.

When he was finally able to keep his eyes opened for more than a few seconds, he turned his attention to the person above him. It was Mr Stark. 

"Wh- why am I outside?" he asked sitting up.

"That's a great question, I was actually about to ask that," Mr Stark asked dryly.

It took Peter a second to detect the sarcasm in his voice. 

"Uhhhhhhh" was the incredibly smart thing he decided to go with.

He racked his brain trying to figure out why he was out here when it hit him.

But it wasn't exactly something he could tell Mr Stark.

"I just needed some fresh air I guess" he said shrugging.

"At 2 in the morning" Mr Stark said raising an eyebrow at him.

"I guess so" he said looked down at his lap.

"Look, I know we don't know eachother that well, but I want you to know that I'm here for you, whatever you need" Mr Stark said placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"It's nothing. I can't handle it. I've been handling it" Peter said standing up abruptly.

"Kid, your 14, you can reach out. Someone will always be there. I get it, you might not be comfortable with me, talk to your aunt, a teacher, heck even your friends would be better than nothing. But your friends are really only a starting point. They're only starting to figure out life too" he said looking him right in the eye. 

Peter could tell that he meant what he said. But he didn't want to talk to anyone, it was his problem, not theirs. So he figured it was best to lie.

"I'll talk to someone" Peter said averting his eyes. He didn't actually plan on doing that. He didn't need to bother anyone.

"Will you actually" Mr Stark asked him gently grabbing his chin forcing Peter to look him in the eyes.

"Yeah..." Peter said trailing off. 

"Alright, here's what's gonna happen" Mr Stark said clapping his hands with a determined look on his face.

"You are gonna go to your room and take a warm shower. When you get out I'll have left some cloths on the bed I want you to wear. Then we're gonna spend the day doing something which you'll see soon, ok" 

"Ok" Peter said confused.

He went down to his room and got ready for a shower. He was about to walk into the ensuite bathroom when he hears a knock at the door.

"Can I come in" came Mr Stark's voice from the other side. 

"Give me a sec" he said quickly walking into the ensuite and grabbing the fluffy white robe from the hook on the door.

After putting it on and making sure he was decent he opened the door.

When he opened it he saw that Mr Stark had a weird machine in his hands. The machine was a wide flat cone with the tip open and hollow.

"This will be really quick kid, give me a sec" he said rushing in the bathroom. 

Peter walked in behind him and watched him put something in it. He heard a small beep indicating that Mr Stark had turned it on. 

"Wait a few minutes then hop into the shower. That's a diffuser with some eucalyptus oil in it. You seem a bit stressed so I figured it might help you a bit" Mr Stark explained leaving the room.

Peter sat on his bed and had Friday play a random song to keep the time.

A few minutes later he hopped into the shower and felt his shoulders immediately relax from all the stress he didn't realized he had.

He took his time. The hot water with the oil in the diffuser made him feel better instantly. And when he emerged 30 minutes later, he felt better than he had in months.

When he walked out into his bedroom he found pair of pajamas on the bed. 

They were a dark grey with small white clouds on them. The fabric itself was soft. So incredibly soft. And they were thick and warm too. 

He quickly changed into them. He felt like he was wrapped in the best blanket ever.

When he arrived in the kitchen he found Mr Stark wearing similar pajamas standing behind the counter cooking something on the frying pan. 

On the counter it looked like he had ordered from every breakfast place within a 10 mile radius.

"What are we doing today Mr Stark" he asked sliding into a seat.

"Nothing" he told him sliding him a plate. 

"Nothing?" Peter said helping himself to some bacon.

"Kid, I don't know how I didn't see it before, but you're overworking. I've already called May and we've agreed you're taking the weekend off. I'll have Cho write you a note to excuse you from any homework and it'll save you from needing to catch up on it. You're also taking Monday off" he told him.

"I, what" Peter said extremely confused.

"I asked May about your workload and then checked the hours you have logged in the suit, and it's off the charts. Too much for someone your age. The schoolwork is normal, but top that off, you go to Midtown. And then there's Spiderman and lab time on all of that. You've been overworking yourself" he said placing some tea next to him.

"I haven't had any problems though" Peter said frowning into his tea as he took a sip.

"Then why were you on the roof this morning" he pressed.

Peter shrugged off his question and helped himself to some french toast. 

"That's what I thought" Mr Stark said sounding slightly pleased with himself.

They ate break talking about all sorts of different things. Though anytime Peter tried steering the subject to school work or spiderman upgrades Mr Stark quickly put an end to that line of conversation. Something about not stressing him out.

After breakfast they moved into the couch for a day of movies. They pulled a thick blanket over them and began their marathon. 

Peter expected them to get warm and to need to pull off the blanket bit he found that the tips of his fingers were actually cold and the rest of him was fine.

"Is the AC on" Peter asked when he noticed the temperature for his fingers.

"Yeah, I've already found that it's cozier if you make the room really cold and then get warm with some pajamas and a blanket.

"Oh" he said.

They ordered more take out for dinner and settled back on the couch.

When Peter went to sleep that night, he dreamt of Ben again. About him dying in his arms. Dying as he did nothing but cry. He hadn't even really told him that he loved him. Just that he needed him, they he didn't want to live without him.

He wanted to go the roof so bad. He felt so trapped in his room. But he didn't want to make Mr Stark worried. He hadn't told him about Ben yet. The man knew about Ben, about how he lived and died. How much Peter loved him. But what he didn't know was that Peter was there when he died. 

Sunday went a lot like Saturday. Shower, comfy pjs big breakfast, nice lunch lots of movies and takeout.

But this time when Mr Stark told him to get to his room to sleep, he shook his head burrowing deeper into the blankets.

"Why don't you want to sleep Pete. I can tell that your tired" Mr Stark asked gently, running a had through his hair.

A beat, and 

"I was there when Ben died" he whispered, "I was holding him. I always used to think that the whole thing about watching the life drain out of someone's eyes when they died was a bit cliche. But it's real. When he died I saw everything about him in his eyes. I saw all the love and the care and the worry. And just as soon as I saw it, it was gone. When I heard his heart slow down, and finally stop, I saw someone else. It may have been his body, but all the things that made him my uncle were gone. It was me, Peter Parker, and the remnants of what used to be my uncle. And if I were faster, he'd probably still be here. Once in a while I see him in my dream. Dying out again, over and over. And just like the first time, I don't do anything to stop it" Peter's voice had been quiete when he has started, but by the end he was yelling. And he was crying. 

Tentatively, Mr Stark opened his arms inviting him for a hug.

When Peter saw the opening he launched himself into it.

He heard Mr Stark soothing him and playing with his hair, calming him down. The words he was saying was lost on him. But the meaning wasn't. He was loved. 

When he calmed down enough he ended up just falling asleep on the man.

The last thing he remembered was holding on to Mr Stark koala bear style while he played with his hair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiii. So it's been over 2 weeks. I'm sorry, I can explain. I just want to start off by saying that I absolutely love writing. But especially with this longer fic i need to make sure I don't have any continuity errors, minimize my spelling and grammar mistakes and a lot more so it takes a lot out of me. And 2 weeks ago had a couple massive final projects and one last test to finish the school year off so all my energy was going there rather than writing.
> 
> That being said now that I'm off, I should be able to stick to my schedule. There might be a few weeks soon that I don't post, but that all depends on what kind of things will be allowed this summer. Other than that all should be normal and this fic should be done at latest by mid August. 
> 
> I think I might be adding more chapters too because things like this chapter, as much as I live writing it, and it just comes to me, takes away from the plot.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed and I'll probably have another chapter up by the end of the week and as always I appreciate comments and kudos.


	29. Chapter 29

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of the last chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, so wow. First thing I want to say is I'm cutting back on expected updates. I'm still gonna try to finish this by mid-August but there will be one chapter a week at least but I'm hopefully gonna throw in a few bonus chapters.
> 
> Also this chapter really took a turn I wasn't expecting and I'm pretty sure I was just venting at the end. But it fits with his character so I'm keeping it in.

He woke up the next day in his bed at the tower. It took him a minute to remember how he got there and when he did, he was thoroughly embarrassed.

He changed into his clothes fully intending intending on going home.

He quickly shoved a few of his things into his backpack before quietly making his way down the hall.

He took a quick look up and down the hall making sure there wasn't anyone there before calling the elevator.

A few excruciating seconds later the elevator opened.

"Going somewhere," came a voice from behind him as he was about to step in.

It was over. 

"No where in particular," he said. 

"Mhm, why don't you take a seat on the couch then," Mr Stark said.

Defeated Peter went to the living room. He took a seat on the edge of the couch to make room for his backpack.

Mr Stark walked into the kitchen.

"Care to explain where you were going," he said.

Peter heard him pulling out pans and open the fridge.

"I was just heading up to the roof for some fresh air," Peter said as nonchalantly as he could be.

"With a backpack," Mr Stark said flatly.

"I've got some snacks in here," Peter said weakly.

"Wanna try again," Mr Stark said. There were now sizzling sounds coming from the kitchen.

He debated. How would Mr Stark react. He really didn't want him to know.

"I was going home," Peter admitted a few minutes later.

Mr Stark walked out of the kitchen and put a plate of scrambled eggs and toast in front of him. He walked back into the kitchen and brought out a glass of orange juice.

He took a seat on the couch in front of him. 

"I think we should talk about yesterday. Or rather you should talk. If you don't feel comfortable with me, go to you're aunt or a guidance counselor at school," he said looking at Peter. 

"Do I have to," Peter asked with a small whine.

"It's for the better kid," Mr Stark said gently.

Peter sighed in defeat. He understood where Mr Stark was coming from. But it was easier to pretend it didn't exist. He never even told May the whole story. Bits and pieces of it sure, but the whole thing start to finish had been carefully locked up. He kept quiet about it. Anytime the topic would go there he changed it. Even Ned only knew a toned down version. 

He felt dirty that he had been lying for so long about it. Especially to May, it was her husband afterall. But it got too hard to even think about it, let alone talk about it.

He looked around the room wondering when his life has gotten to the point where he was telling Tony Stark, Ironman, the truth about his uncle while eating a breakfast prepared for him by the man himself.

"It was a pretty normal Friday. Ned was out of town visiting some family out of state. Me May and Ben were getting ready for a scrabble game," he found himself saying.

"Ben was trying to get me to do something, I forget what at this point, but I didn't want to. We ended up fighting and I ran out of the appartment," Peter continued his voice getting weaker.

"Ben came after me, I should have listened when he tried to get me to stop. But I didn't. I made it a few blocks before I walked into a convenience store to try to lose him. I didn't and a burglar shot him on the sidewalk. I was at the doors pretending he didn't exist. When I turned around he was already on the ground. I he eld him as he died, as the life left his eyes," Peter said, tears in his own eyes. He didn't bother wiping them away. 

"I had been bit already, and I felt my Spidey sense go off but I ignored it," Peter said full on crying at this point.

He waited for it, the verbal lashing he had been waiting for. Hoping for. He waited for Mr Stark to yell at him, to kick him out, to tell May so she would kick him out too. He had a backpack filled with clothes and snacks for this purpose. 

"You know it's not your fault right," Mr Stark asked gently.

"I-what, of course it's not my fault did you not hear me, I knew what was about to happen and yet I pretended he didn't exist," Peter argued.

"Did you know that he was going to get shot," Mr Stark asked raising an eyebrow.

"I-well n-no, but I knew something was gonna happen and I ignored it," Peter sputtered.

"And didn't you say that you only had your powers for a month at that point," he asked.

"Well yeah, but I still got the jist of them," Peter argued.

"So you can honestly tell me that you understood enough about yourself at that point to say you could have stopped the burgler," Mr Stark said slowly.

"Well, maybe not, but I knew enough," Peter tried to emphasize the 'enough'.

"I doubt you did kid, it wasn't your fault and the sooner you accept that, the sooner you can start moving forward. May came by a week ago just to talk a bit. She told me and Pepper about how she was doing, and by the way she talks about him, it's obvious that she still misses him, but she's moving on in her life, meanwhile here you are still hung up on a situation you had no control over, your 14, you can't save the world, you won't be able to save that many people, but those you do save, their lives are better now that you were there for them," Mr Stark said. 

He said it with such conviction that Peter had no choice but to believe what he was saying. There was a voice telling him that he was just saying that, saying it without meaning it. But there was a louder more prominent voice telling him that it was all true. That he wasn't the cause of Ben's death.

If he was honest with himself, that voice had always been there. But it had been drowned out by the other one. Or the other reason, a reason that he didn't even realize, that he chose to ignore it because he needed something to blame. He needed something physical that he could see and hurt. He needed something, someone to suffer. And he didn't know the name of the robber, didn't care too. So that only left him. 

He was angry at the world for taking one of the most important people in his life. He was angry at himself for not doing more. And he held it in. He his anger to fuel him. It fueled school and Spiderman. It ate at him for the inside out, he used himself as an energy source and it was finally starting to show. The cracks in his walls were too big to ignore now.

He didn't know this. He didn't know any of this. All he knew was that he was tired. He was ready to let go and let someone coddle him and hold his hand. He had had to be independent after Ben had died to lighten the load off his aunt. But he had been carrying it around all this time. She had taken time and healed. She wasn't there 100% yet. But she as working through it. Peter on the other hand, he didn't have anyone to turn too. He had himself and that was it. He did have other people, but he didn't feel right going to those people with this. It felt like too much. 

So he kept it in. He deflected. He did what he always did and looked after other people because it was easier to see other peoples problems and support them than it was with your own. It was easier to put good in the world and help take away the bad than it was let your own demons out. 

But it crushed him. He had the problems of the city that he carried around. Something he did with pride. But it was difficult to carry it all. And it was even harder to carry his own on top of that. 

So he sat there and cried and cried. In that moment he cried for all the reasons he had ever wanted to but had never let himself. 

He cried for his uncle and the fact that he was gone. He cried for the loss of his childhood and for the friends he never had. He cried for the way that he hadn't been held by May as much as he wanted because he pushed her away. 

Mr Stark, Tony seemed to understand and came to his side. He held him gently telling him over and over that it would all work out in the end. That it would be fine. He made promises that Peter felt would be kept. He told him things he'd been needing to hear for a while now. 

When Peter finally calmed down Tony didn't say anything. He just gently helped Peter up and brought him to his room. He walked Peter to his bed and waited for him to lie done before pulling the covers on him. 

His gentle hands movies his hair out if his face and said a quiet 'good-night' before walking out of the room.

Peter was asleep within minutes feeling lighter than he had in months.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading this through. I'm probably gonna add a few more chapters, or I'm gonna be making these last few really long. 
> 
> Honestly I hope no one hates the turn of events. This will still be a fairly lighthearted fic, but this chapter kinda wrote itself and I really feel like it completes this story and also opens up the possibility for a sequel?
> 
> If anyone is actually interested in me continuing this then let me know. And also note that if I do write a sequel it'll be in the style of Nancy Drew books. Character development will happen but there won't be this grand overarching plot. 
> 
> See you soon
> 
> ~V (I'm also looking for a better username because I just picked this one randomly but I want something that represents me better. Obviously you guys don't know me, but if you could leave themes or a way to think of a better username below i would appreciate that so much)


	30. Chapter 30

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's the aftermath of the last chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I said once a week, but I ended up posting a birthday fic, and I couldn't figure out how I wanted it to end. Sorry. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy.
> 
> I don't love the ending, but I also really think it fits.

When Peter woke up Tony told him that they needed to talk about a few things. 

Thats how they found themselved sat in the same couches they were in earlier. Peter fidgeting nervously with the cords of his hoodie.

Tony took a deep breath.

"Kid, first off, there's nothing wrong with the way you acted earlier. You weren't screaming or yelling or being disrespectful. And even if you had been, it would have been okay considering the circumstances," Tony started.

"I know that," Peter said forgetting his nerves and sounding mildly annoyed.

"Then why do you look like I'm about to read you the riot act," Tony asked.

"Oh...," Peter said not wanting to explain himself.

"Yeah, oh. Kid, I don't know what's going on in that head of yours, but we need to talk about it,' Tony said gently.

"I guess," Peter mumbled.

"If you don't talk about it, we can't help you. And we want to help your we want it be there for you," Tony said. 

Peter didn't want help. If he accepted help it would mean accepting that there was a problem.

But he knew he needed to talk about it. He's know it for a while if he was honest with himself. He just needed a push.

"I guess I've just been feeling really stressed and anxious since Ben died. I, I got these powers and I knew from the beginning that I had to do something with them. I didn't know what though at the time. And then he died, and I realized what," Peter started.

"But I was too late, he's dead and I could have done something about but I didn't and is he's six feet under," he said bitterly.

"You were 13 at the time, you were allowed, and still are allowed to be a kid still," Mr Stark cut in.

"When you do the things I can do, but don't, it's your fault when people get hurt," Peter said somberly.

Tony was at at a loss for words. In a way, Peter was absolutely right, that when you have the power got stop things, you should. One of the many reasons he stopped manafacturing weapons. But at the same time he was a child. If he were to try to enlist in the army, he'd be turned away because if his age. If he tried to get a job with local law enforcement, he would be told that he was too young to even be a receptionist.

"You can't save everyone. That's the sad truth that all heroes eventually learn. Especially your everyday heroes like doctors, paramedics firefighters and police. As much as they want to have everyone come out alive, it isn't always possible. The important thing is that they give their all.

And that's what you do every day. I'm proud of the person I've gotten to know these past few months. And I'm excited to see what kind of person you become. But you'll never get there if you don't learn how to take care of yourself. Your body has a limit, a limit much higher than the average persons sure, but it has a limit nonetheless," Tony told Peter. About halfway through his speech he had moved to come sit next to him.

Peter leaned into his warmth, he felt safe there. It felt like home. They hadn't know each other for very long. But they knew each other well enough that Peter knew that Mr Stark cared for him. That he wanted to be there for Peter the way that no one had been there for him.

"Maybe you're right," he admitted.

"How generous, I got a maybe," Tony's said with a bit of sarcasm.

"It's easier to care about other people, if something is difficult, you can walk away for a bit and come back with a clear head. Or not come back at all. If it's you though, then the problem will haunt you no matter what you're doing. It'll probably affect you everyday until it's solved, and even then the memories will make sure you never escape," Peter said shame washing through him. He had never admitted it out loud before. It wasn't that he was using other people per se, it was just that he would rather carry their burdens than his own. He kept his own problems tucked away deep inside him.

"You need to work on yourself too Pete. If you don't one day you're going to fall down. And once you fall from a height like that, you won't be able to get up again," Tony said gently.

"It hasn't happened yet though," Peter protested weakly.

"You've been getting lucky so far. But what you're doing right now won't be good for you in the long run, you're gonna run yourself ragged like this. You need to be able to talk about your problems. It's for the best, I promise," Mr Stark said firmly.

"Yeah, I guess," Peter conceded.

After that the two spent the day talking about how Peter could best manage his feelings and problems. There were 2 things that Mr Stark really made sure to emphasize. That Peter should always talk to someone whenever he was feels stressed, and even when he wasn't. Mr Stark made sure to tell him that he was always available and that even if he disturbed some really important work, that he would make time for him. And second that Peter was still a kid and he was allowed to be a kid and have kid problems.

"I don't want you missing out on childhood then regretting it later," he had explained when he told him this.

Finally in the afternoon once they finished lunch, Tony let Peter back in the lab.

He was in his element from there. He was helping Tony with the Ironman suit. Tony had given him the arm of a prototype that never made it into the current suit to mess around with.

The inside of the arm had been a mess of wires and he had had to spend the better part of 3 weeks cleaning up the inside. On the brightside though he had learned what all the wires did and where they connected too as well as what type of wire that was used where.

He tinkered away being careful because even if the arm was off, any amount of even static electricity could set it off. It was a very delicate system designed to amplify the smallest amounts of power.

He saw himself in the prototype. It wasn't finished yet. It still needed work. He had just cleaned up the wires, he had realigned them and learned more about them so that he could prevent them from going breaking again. The fine-tuning stage wasn't even close. But the idea was there. But the most important things about it would be found in the final product. The things that would be needed time and time again wouldn't go anywhere. The final product, much like the prototype would need maintenance done on it. It would need constant fixing and upgrades.

Just like him. He was still growing and learning. He wouldn't be the same person in 10 years that he was today. But all his defining features would stand the test of time. The wires he just cleaned out were all his feelings. He understood them better now. He knew what to do if they got too much again. But they were important. He couldn't just ignore them and pretend that they didn't exist. If he did, he might just explode in the worst possible way. He would make himself useless, damaged beyond repair. But he could prevent it. He just had to learn that getting help was the best way to help himself. That he didn't need to the one helping everyone else.

He needed to learn to help himself before helping other people.

Looking at the arm, Peter felt more at peace than he had in a while. He felt like he finally understood a part of him that he had never known exited.

He knew now that there was nothing wrong with being a bit rough around the edges, the important thing was that he made sure there weren't any cracks there. That he would still be whole. That his breaks made his story unique. That they helped tell his story. That his cracks made him unique.

The arm wasn't broken, it just wasn't finished. 

He wasn't less of a hero, he just needed more time. He just needed to learn more about who he was so he could be of best help to the city.

He smiled. The road to recovery would be long for him, but it was a journey he was looking forward too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 5 more chapters to go. I'm really excited for it. I hope that the ending lived up to the rest of this. I'm really proud of what I've done and nothing is worse than a bad ending


	31. Chapter 31

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Slowly the pieces are coming together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, ummm, I can explain. 
> 
> I know it's been a month, and my update schedule has been spotty for a while but honestly I'm just having a hard time figuring out how to end it.
> 
> Truth be told I've had this chapter basically done and ready to publish for a few weeks now but I didn't really like it. Reading it back though, it's actually a good chapter.
> 
> I've changed my username from Violet78 to violet_sunflowers cause I've honestly hated it from day 
> 
> Hopefully the next update should come quicker. 
> 
> I've also started school again and for a while that should work in my favour. (And yours).
> 
> And hey, if you like my writing style I've been writing a bunch of one-shots lately so click on my profile of you're interested.

"What's up Mr Stark," Peter asked dropping his bag in his chair.

It was Wednesday and Peter was here for their usual lab day. 

"I'm looking over security cameras to see who could be buying and selling the scraps," Mr Stark told him.

"Any ideas yet," Peter asked.

"They were very careful, the most I can see of them is half their face in shadows," Mr Stark said frustrated.

Peter walked over and looked at the screen in front of him. It was paused in a blurry frame of a dark alleyway.

"You see that," Mr Stark asked.

"See what," Peter asked.

"Exactly," Mr Stark said.

When Peter looked confused he elaborated.

"I've had Friday look at the security cameras and compile the most route that the thieves would take and this is alleyway is almost guaranteed to be used to take the scraps. She picked up a heat signature and motion here, but there isn't anyone," Mr Stark told him.

"So did she mess up or did they find away to delete themselves from the footage," Peter asked.

"That's actually a better theory than I had. I was thinking that they avoided the cameras completely but the motion and heat detectors were too sensitive for them to avoid," Tony said as he started typing something on his computer.

Peter watched as he pulled up several different tabs muttering things about those "dam hackers". 

Finally a few minutes later he looked to Peter and with a pleased look on his face.

"I've overlayed the thermal-scans with the motion scanners and found this," he said moving the screen so Peter could see it.

On the screen was a blob of red that seemed contained into a shape vaugely resembling someone.

"That doesn't really tell us much though does it," Peter asked.

"Not yet, Friday will run with against stock footage of people walking and compare and contrast. Friday will keep building models based on actual people with similar proportions to give us a rough idea of what they actually look like. Then once we have that we can scan all the footage in to narrow down the list of piss suspects" Mr Stark explained a pleased smile on his face.

"How long do you think that will take," Peter asked.

"Maybe a day," he said.

Peter nodded. 

"I just need to a adjust a few things on the web-shooters but I've got homework so I have to leave a bit early today," Peter told him.

Truthfully MJ had invited him and Ned to help her for some art project. But the genius didn't need to know that. 

"I'll order you in a sandwich then, I don't need you fainting on the way home," Tony said.

Peter got to his workstation and pulled out the appropriate tools. 

"Sir, I've found another note signed by Ontobo over a server in SI. Unfortunately there isn't an electronic signature so I can't figure out where it came from, but it's from a high-level employee in the tower," Friday announced after a few minutes of silence.

"Read it Fri," Tony said pushing his chair from his workstation to where the super-computer was set up.

"I have one more load of scraps, this includes a discarded reactor case and several large sheets of tin that came in too small," she recited. 

"Tin, tin, tin," Mr Stark muttered scratching his head.

"Friday, when did that happen," he asked.

"According to my records that shipment Ontobo seems to be referencing arrived in late August and was sent to the private scrap yard in mid-September which is standard protocol with items such as tin, lumber, aluminum, pipes, plastic and fabrics," she responded.

Tony opened a file labelled "Ontobo".

Peter walked over to the screen to see what he had.

It was one of those spiderweb diagrams that teachers got you to use for brainstorming, exept more advanced. All the lines from the center went out to another box which kept branching out.

"I've been trying to figure out what's going on. At first I thought it was just a crime ring, but it's too calculated to be that. They don't take everything, they don't even take all the valuable things," Tony explained.

Peter looked at it. 

"I've gotten some employees and Friday to track down what's left and what's been stolen. Any and all spare materials are shipped off to a warehouse we call the scrap yard in trucks that do their runs on a bi-weekly basis," he explained.

"Have you considered a timeline, that way you could see if it coincided with anything weird happenings in the city," Peter suggested tentatively.

"Fri-"

"On it," she said he could even finish his sentence.

The hologram changed from the diagram to a timeline and a graph underneath it. 

"The timeline shows all the shipments and what was stolen from the previous shipment and any significant crimes or events show up on the respective weeks. Along the bottom is a graph indicating crime rates per day. Keep in mind that a few weeks in you gave Peter the suit and he was able to do more, thus more crime for reported," she said lighting up key details in the graph including the slight spike when Peter got the suit.

"Kid, you should probably get home, I need to have a good look at this," Tony said not unkindly.

Peter understood, the data that Friday was showing on the screen looked complicated. Ned often kicked Peter out of his house whenever he worked on a new program for him. Peter never took offense to that. He told the man that and walked to the elevator.

He would do a quick patrol on the way. He changed into his suit on the elevator and walked out of the lobby.

Forty minutes later and he was knocking on MJ's door.

"Hey loser, glad you could make it," she said in greeting when she opened the door. 

He smiled and nodded as he walked in. 

He suddenly felt extremely out of place. Her apartment was clean with the odd bit of homely clutter. A messy pile of magazines, a cluttered shoe rack. The furniture was mostly pastel colours with accents of bright reds and purples tossed in at random.

He shuffled akwardly in the small hallway between the door and the rest of the appartment.

"Ned's going to be late, he got pulled out of school early because his mom sprained her ankle. He's coming though, don't worry," she said taking a seat on her couch.

Peter nodded, he got a text from Ned during last period but hadn't had time to read it because he had a test. 

"What's you're art project supposed to be," he asked her.

MJ's eyes lit up.

"In art we were talking about how good drawings have passion. They say things without words. They portray meanings and ideas with brushstrokes. Mr Rosa asked us what is something that everyone can find meaning to," she started.

"But everyone's different, paintings are gonna mean different things for different people," Peter said.

She smiled.

"Exactly, but there's one thing that everyone understands in some way," she said.

"What is that," he asked.

"It's love. Love is universal, but everyone understands it a bit differently. When people think love, they normally think of romantic love. But you can love a sport, a hobby, a friend a place. Pretty much anything," she said. Her face wrinkled in disgust showing what she thought of the topic.

"So what are we doing for it," Peter asked.

"Basically I'm going to draw you two on the couch doing a step of your handshake. Then I'll ask the two of you guys seperately what you're friendship means to you guys," she told him.

Peter nodded.

"So what does it mean to you," she asked.

Peter thought about it for a minute.

"Being friends means being there for each other, it means giving and taking. It means talking about the things we love, and the things we hate. It's about having a place I can go to, and being a place he can go to. It's all the love and the caring you want, without the fear of judgement you get with family. It's memories. It's dumb ideas and even dumber execution. It's you too MJ. You've become a part of it. You can back off if you want too, but I don't think you do," he said empatheticly. He meant every word. And MJ knew it. 

Ned burst through the door, speeding up the moment that time seemed to slow down in. 

"Sorry I took so long, what did you guys do," he asked out of breath.

Peter and MJ shared a look. And with his eyes Peter asked her if she wanted in. MJ wanted to say no. She was afraid. But something inside of her told her that she had said yes a long time ago.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully the next update should come sooner than a month, but idk with life rn. 
> 
> I am sorry though, but I'm happy with how this turned out so I hope you enjoy.
> 
> Just a reminder that I have a new username but it's still me.


	32. Chapter 32

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ned and Mr Stark work on figuring out who Ontobo is while Peter and MJ work for a totally different reason.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is one of the longest chapters I've ever written. It also took a turn that I was not expecting it too. Also it insanely fluffy.
> 
> Super happy with the end result. Enjoy

Peter walked into the lab for his usual Wednesday lab session when he felt his Spidey sense go off.

He instinctively stuck his hand out and caught the wrench that had been thrown at his head.

He looked to where Mr Stark stood suprised to see a tripod with a camera set up. 

"What are you doing Mr Stark," Peter asked wrinkling his brow.

"We never actually testes you're powers and I kinda wanted to do that today if that's ok with you," Mr Stark asked, "you can say no to anything you don't feel comfortable with, but anything we can test, I would like to." 

Peter thought about it for a second. While it would be cool knowing his limits, he didn't want anyone to be able to hack in and steal his file.

"I really want to, but what if someone gets their hands on the results," Peter said voicing his concerns.

"Kid, we're currently in Stark Tower. But I get your concern. Don't worry I'll make sure this is more secure than Nick Fury's appartment," he said easily waiving him off.

Peter trusted him. He really did. So he enthusiastically agreed. 

The tests started off simple enough. Bench-press using Captain America's equipment, climb onto different wall types and textures and describing the way each one feels. Putting him a a super soundproof room and slowly lessening how soundproof it is until he heard something. Even standing on a mat in the middle of the gym with his mask pulled over his head limiting his senses to test his Spidey sense.

Peter could tell that the results would be good based off the incredulous faces that Mr Stark made whenever they got a final result. 

Peter wanted the results to show his very best so he pushed himself to the max.

Then came the more complicated tests. Now that they knew how well, they were trying to figure out the why. 

They took recordings of his faces before his Spidey sense activated. Then they put neuro-sensors to see what was going on when his Spidey sense went off. They took body scans to see how much body fat he had. They checked his muscles. He sat under the x-ray machine to have a look at his skeleton. They took blood samples to see exactly how the bite changed him. 

"I'm beat," Peter announced flopping onto the couch.

"I bet," Mr Stark said from the kitchen. He was currently getting forks for their take out.

"So, what are my results," Peter asked. 

"Well, as a base, you're stronger than capsicle. You can lift about 4 school buses of weight. And you're Spidey sense will tell you of any immediate acute dangers. As well as out you on high alert for anything that had the potential to be dangerous. You're body fat is actually on the high side but that's probably because your body is constantly storing extra nutrients in you're fat deposits for your healing," Mr Stark said. 

Peter felt proud of himself. Even though he really he nothing to do with it. 

When the movie finished it was about 8:30. Perfect time for Peter to get dropped off.

"I'll take you today," Mr Stark said grabbing his keys.

"Are you sure Mr Stark, I could just swing home," Peter said uncertainly.

"Kid, I'm sure, grab you're things," Mr Stark said reassuringly. 

The ride over was filled with chatter about the different aspects of the web-shooters. After last weekend they had decided to focus on them more because they had been neglecting them for a while. The suit was on a totally different level to the web-shooters.

When they pulled up to the appartment Peter turned to leave when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Kid, I was thinking, why don't you bring Ted around," Mr Stark said.

"You mean Ned," Peter said exasperated.

"Yeah yeah, him. I mean with the tech you guys made we could probably find Ontobo no problem," Mr Stark said.

"He's the software guy I'm the hardware guy. He's the one that did most of the coding but I actually built it. I won't be much help unless you need me to make a super-computer," Peter told him.

"Even more reason as to why he should come. He can even stay the night," Mr Stark offered.

"You sure," Peter asked.

"Kid, I need to find Ontobo. Another shipment was stolen last night and this time the actually took some dangerous things. Besides, I think it's about time you brought him back," Mr Stark told him.

Peter nodded excitedly and headed out of the car with an enthusiastic wave. 

"Bye Mr Stark, Ned's going to be so excited about this," he said practically skipping off. 

"Dude, are too for real right now, have I actually been invited back to the tower to preform my Guy in the Chair duties," Ned said jumping a little.

They were standing at Peter's locker getting their things since they had long since decided to just put half their things in one locker and the other half in the other for convenience.

"Yup, so make sure you get you're overnight bag ready," Peter said with a big smile. 

"What are you nerds talking about," MJ said appearing out of nowhere.

"Uh, we were just-," Peter stammered blushing. 

"I've been invited to the Tower tonight to do some computer stuff to track down missing tech," Ned blurted out.

MJ nodded slowly. 

"I hope you take better care of Ned than you do yourself dork," she said looking at Peter.

Peter nodded solemnly.

"This won't be Boonton part 2, besides I've been working really closely with Mr Stark and he doesn't do anything like Boonton. He wants me to go wild with my ideas. He wants my input. He's good," Peter said.

Friday was finally here. After a quick run-in with Flash that left a small bruise on his arm and a chemistry test that he aced he was excitedly waiting by his locker. Ned, he knew had a test in history so he would probably be another few minutes. He scrolled through his phone looking at The Web. He had saved a car from falling off a bridge yesterday, and sure enough that was the top story. 

The Man Behind the Mask, the section dedicated to finding out who he was was still far off. The current debate was whether he was over or under the age of 25. The popular theory was that he was somehere between 21-26, but that was about it. Either way they were way off. He was 14. 

"Dude, I am so ready," said Ned from behind him startling him out of his thoughts. 

"Me too, this is gonna be epic" Peter said happily. 

The two boys hurried out of the halls looking for Happy's signature black Audi. 

When they got there they found MJ sitting in the back.

"Kid, you couldn't have hurried up, your friend is already here," Happy said annoyed from the front. 

"MJ, what are you doing here," Peter asked confused. 

Happy turned around looking annoyed.

"Kid, is this not the programmer friend," Happy said annoyed. 

"No...," Peter said looking at MJ.

"I'm coming with you," MJ announced.

"Uhhh," Peter said.

"Nope, I have no idea who you are, and today is a more classified day," Happy said firmly.

"I'm coming," MJ repeated coldly to Happy.

"I can get you arrested for trespassing," Happy informed her.

"Like Peter would let you call the cops on me," MJ said.

"He doesn't have a say, I'm here to drive him wherever my boss tells me. I don't work for Peter in any capacity. If he's bleeding out in an alley somewhere and he calls I don't have to go get him unless Stark tells me," Happy said threateningly.

"Hilarious how you just say things like that to a 14 year old who might one day need you because of that reason. You really need to think about what driving him means, and if you can't be tasked to help him while he's dying somewhere you need to tell Stark that so he can make sure that Peter has someone he can call should be ever need it," MJ ranted angrily.

"Happy, just let her come," Peter said stepping in. He knew that MJ wouldn't change her mind and he definitely wouldn't let Happy call the cops.

"It's your head on the line," Happy said turning around. 

He put up the divider as Peter and Ned buckled their seatbelts. 

The ride over was silent. The 3 kids not knowing what to say.

Finally the Tower came into view. 

They got off in the garage. Peter led them towards the elevator.

"Hello Peter, Ned. How are you today," Friday asked. 

"We're good Fri, you," Peter asked.

"I'm an AI Mini-boss, my days are neither good nor bad. My scans show that there's a third person in the elevator. I don't recognize her," Friday said. 

"This is MJ, she's a friend from school," Peter said introducing her.

They got to the lab floor and stepped off. 

"Hi Mr Stark," Peter said walking in.

"Hey kid, did you bring Fred with you, I've been working on the investigation but I got nothing," Mr Stark said from his table.

"Yeah, he he's here," MJ said.

Mr Stark whipped his head around.

"And who might you be," he asked.

"MJ," she said.

"I didn't realize that Peter had invited someone else, you any good with computers," Mr Stark asked slowly.

"No, but I have common sense, these 2 forget about that a lot. And I invited myself," she told him simply. 

"O-k," Mr Stark said.

"Sorry Mr Stark, but once MJ decides to to something it's easier to just let her," Peter explained.

Mr Stark raised his eyebrows at that but said nothing.

"Come here, let's give Red and MJ a your of what's going on. I assume she knows about your night-job," Mr Stark said tacking on the question at the end.

"She knows," Peter confirmed. 

"Cool," he said turning back to the bench.

He got up and walked up to the hologram table next to his workbench and pulled up the file labelled Ontobo.

He and Peter quickly filled the other two in on the situation. 

"So I was thinking that Ned might be able to help me program something better. I've seen what you guys did with parts from the dumpster, I want to see what you can do with high quality parts," Mr Stark said looking at Ned. 

"Started from the bottom now we're here," Ned started, "started from the bottom now the whole team's here," Peter finished.

The two boys did their handshake while grinning widely.

"Let's see what we're working with," Peter said clapping his hands.

MJ rolled her eyes, though Peter could see the small smile tugging at her lips.

Mr Stark led them over to a massive computer set up in the corner of the room. Right next to where they had discussed the case last time.

"What do you think we need," Peter said finding a screwdriver and immediately finding the panel.

"Maybe a new motherboard, those things are always a bit tricky to get right," Ned suggested.

"We could probably mess with the wires a bit too," Peter said excitedly.

"Whoah whoah whoah," Mr Stark said quickly from behind, "what are you guys talking about."

"The computer... didn't you want us to help with that," Peter asked confused.

"The hardwares all there kid, sorry. I was just hoping you could help me with the programming," Mr Stark said. 

"Oh, well that's just gonna be Ned then," Peter said slightly disappointed. 

"Sorry kid, but I need to know who Ontobo is," Mr Stark said apologetically. 

"You mentioned a while ago that you can cook, why don't you make us dinner," Mr Stark offered.

Before Peter could reply MJ interjected.

"I don't think it's appropriate that you're having Peter cook for you. Especially since he came here expecting to help you out with his tech stuff," MJ cut in.

"Don't worry about it MJ, I've wanted to show off my cooking skills for a while. But we always get distracted. We have a deal that next time I couldn't do something in the lab either for confidentiality reasons or whatnot then I get to cook for him," Peter assured her. 

"The kid keeps bragging about how good he is, but I've heard the horror stories of his aunt's cool so I have a hard time believing him," Mr Stark told her. 

"That's fair, I didn't even know the dork can cook," MJ said.

"I still don't believe it," Mr Stark said.

"So, MJ," Peter asked, "would you rather stay here or come up with me."

"Where do you think I should go," she asked looking at him carefully.

Oh there was a definately a wrong answer here. 

"Uhh, wherever you would be most comfortable," he said his voice rasing in pitch towards the end of the sentence.

"I'll be up in a minute, I just need do something here," she said nodding.

"Ok, when you get to the elevator just ask Friday to take you to the top floor," he said already walking out. 

"Friday, can you pull up the recipe book on my phone," he asked when he walked into the elevator.

"There's a Starkpad on the kitchen counter that had hologram capabilities, I can pull your book on there," Friday offered.

"Sounds good," he said.

When MJ walked in a few days later looking pleased with herself he was surfing through his book.

"What are we cooking," she asked sitting down on the barstool next to him.

"We," he asked.

"Yes we, did you really think I'd let you do all the work," she said rasing her eyebrows.

"I thought that you would just hang out," he admitted. 

"That too, but I figured it would be impolite," she said with a shrug.

He nodded and turned back to the recipe book. 

"The problem is that I don't know what ingredients I have to work with," Peter said shyly.

"Peter, we're in the house of a billionaire, I'm sure you can order whatever we need and still have it in time for dinner," she said in her 'are you serious' voice. 

"I don't want to take advantage of him," he said.

"So long as we don't order some ridiculously expensive things he probably doesn't care," she told him.

"I can set up a budget for you if that would make you feel more comfortable," Friday offered.

"That works," Peter said.

Once Friday set them a budget he started flipping more enthusiastically through the book. 

"Is there anything you want to make," he asked.

"I can't really cook, so pick something that you can guide me through easily," she said.

He nodded. He wanted a pasta of some sort. He really wanted an Italian meal. 

"Friday, order everything that we'll need for the all Italian meal #3," he said looking at the ceiling confident that it was in budget.

"Right away Peter estimated time of arrival is 40 minutes. Based on the notes you've made this meal will take approximately 2 hours to prepare bringing dinner time to about 7 o'clock," she said.

"Perfect." 

They sat on the couch working on their homework waiting for the groceries to arrive.

"Why did you come today," Peter asked after a while.

"I needed to make sure that you were being treated properly. And I think I've fixed any problems you have," she informed him.

"Were there any problems," he asked.

"Just one, but it's all good now. Don't worry your pretty little head about it," she said. 

When Friday told them that the groceries were 5 minutes away Peter gave MJ the run-down of what they were cooking.

"Fettuccine Alfredo and fresh garlic bread," he told her, "we're gonna make everything from scratch. Fresh baked bread and even fresh pasta, it's not that difficult but I'll take it slow with you." 

When Friday told him that the groceries arrived they went down the elevator. They thanked the delivery guys and gave them a hefty tip.

Peter let MJ carry a few bags until the delivery guys were out of view, then he gently tried to take the bags from her.

"I can do it myself," she said pulling the bags away.

"I know you can, but I've got super strength. I wouldn't feel right if you carried anything," Peter said sincerely.

In the end they comprised. Peter took most of the bags and MJ carried the bag filled with herbs.

Once back in the kitchen they layed out all the ingredients on the counter.

"I think we start with the bread that way we can give it time to rest and then put it in the oven just when they should be finishing up last night," Peter suggested.

"Sounds good," MJ said nodding.

They washed their hands. And put everything away but the flour, yeast, sugar, salt and oil.

They decided to make 2 loafs of bread, one loaf each. Peter made sure to take it slow. Showing MJ and helping her measure everything out correctly.

He showed her the best kneading technique and eventually they put the bread to rest. 

"That was the easy part, ready to make the pasta," Peter asked.

MJ nodded.

"Ok, so first you're going to make a little flour volcano like this," Peter said carefully arranging his flour, "and once the walls are high enough you're gonna crack an egg into it. Then slowly you're gonna incorporate the flour in with the egg."

He watched as MJ copied his movements.

There was a brief silence in which they were both mixing their eggs and flour together.

Peter looked over at her. Then his eyes landed on the flour. He silently gathered some of the stray flour from his side and tossed it at MJ.

"Real mature Parker," she said with a find roll of her eyes.

"What can I say Jones," he shot back.

"This," she said dumping a small amount of flour into his hair.

"My hair, don't you know I spend ages on it to get it to look this nice" he said shaking his head to rid it of the flour.

"Oh please, you definitely wake up like that, it's annoyingly cute," she fired back.

He froze. He slowly turned his head towards her wondering if he had heard wrong. The look of mortification on her face confirmed that no, he heard that right.

"Did you just-," he started.

"Yes apperantly I did," she said slowly.

"I-I think you're pretty pretty," Peter stammered.

"Yeah," she said cautiously, but Peter heard the hope simmering beneath it. 

"I think that you're smart, you're kind you're brave. I like a lot about you," Peter started, "I, do you think that you might want to go on a date with me," Peter asked averting his gaze, afraid that he had come on too strong.

"I would like that very much," she said her voice wavering slightly. 

"So, are we a thing," Peter asked hopefully.

"I think that we are," MJ said moving closer to him.

He held out his arms wrapping them tightly around her, marveling at how right she felt against her chest. 

They continued making dinner while trying to touch each other as much as possible. 'Accidentally' brushing their hands together. Bumping into each other constantly. All this wanted was to be each other. Peter also tried a more hands on approach to teaching MJ. Grabbing her hands in his and guiding her through the motions.

Once they had the pasta pressed and tossed into the pot with the chicken cheese and cream and the bread in the oven they went over to the couch. 

They just sat together. When it finally came time to pull the bread out of the oven and serving the pasta they reluctantly got up and did so.

When they finished they pulled together for another long hug.

"What in the world happened while we were gone," Mr Stark exclaimed while Ned let out a long drawn out "finally,".

Peter let go of MJ and approached them.

"Ned, Mr Stark, meet my girlfriend."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yup, they're a thing. I'm pretty sure a lot of you caught on to the fact that I've been planning this for a while.
> 
> I hope it feels natural. I'm worried about their relationship feeling forced and built off of nothing.
> 
> I'm open to criticism when it comes to that. Otherwise this story is slowly coming to and end.
> 
> Worry not, I'm considering writing a sequel. If I do write it it's gonna be able to be read as a stand-alone but there will definitetly be hints and references to this one. As well as using the AU I've created.


	33. Chapter 33

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The mystery is solved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, it's been a month and a half. Sorry, life's been busy. However this should be done by Christmas.

Peter looked in the mirror. He was currently trying tie his dark blue bow tie to his plaid blue button up. It was a lot harder than he thought it would be. The bow tie kept coming out lopsided. 

"Peter, MJ will be here soon, you should hurry up," said May knocking on the other side of the door.

"I'm trying to figure out how to tie a bow tie, it's tricky," Peter said his hands undoing it for what felt like the millionth time that night.

"I can help with that," came a voice from their front door.

"Mr Stark, what are you doing here," Peter said abandoning the tie in favour of opening the door to greet his mentor.

"Baby's first date, I had to be here for it," Mr Stark said with a cheeky smile.

Peter's face turned red and he burried his face in his hands.

"Not a baby," he mumbled.

"Sure you aren't," May said. Peter could hear the smirk in her voice.

"Get in front of the mirror if you want my help Underoos," Mr Stark said walking into the bathroom.

Peter stood in front of the mirror while Mr Stark quickly did the knot for him.

"I'll show you how to do to on your own soon," Mr Stark promised smiling at the wonderous smile on Peter's face.

Suddenly he heard a knock at the door. Peter quickly ran to the door before May had a chance to.

"Hi MJ," Peter said excitedly feeling a blush creep up his face.

"Hey dork, you look nice," she said. Peter could tell she was trying to sound bored and uncaring like she usually did, but he could hear the edge of nervousness in her voice.

They stared at each other. MJ taking in the sight of Peter in a pair of dark jeans and a plaid shirt with a bow tie, while Peter took her in. She was wearing a dark red dress that went down to her knees. The dress had a slight shimmer to it, making it look alive with the light. The red complimented her skin colour beautifully. He could see that she was wearing some light makeup, including a bit of highlighter that shone proudly on her cheeks. 

"Picture time," May declared clapping her hands from behind, snapping them out of their trance.

Peter and MJ posed akwardly while May and Mr Stark tried to encourage them to get a bit closer.

"My baby's growing up," May said wiping a fake tear from her eye as she looked at the photos she had taken.

Mr Stark approached them as they were leaving.

"Pete, I know you don't really like accepting money or things from me, but for once in your life, please, just take it," he said practically shoving 2 20's into Peter's hands.

"Mr Stark, I ca-," Peter started.

"For your date, use this for flowers or for dessert or something. Just take it. You work really hard all the time, you deserve a nice night out with your girlfriend," Mr Stark said 

Peter relented and put the 20's in his wallet along with the 15 dollars already there that he had been planning to use tonight.

"Ready to go MJ," Peter said jokingly sticking out his elbow like he had seen in movies.

"Ready," MJ said surprising him by taking his elbow.

They stepped out of the appartment heading down the hall to the elevator.

"I didn't want to say this with May and Mr Stark around, but you look gorgeous tonight," Peter said shyly once they got in the elevator.

MJ bit her lip, her cheeks turning a gentle red.

"Thanks." 

When they got outside and the crisp autumn air hit their lungs, it suddenly hit Peter that he was on a date. 

"Are you still ok with that pizza place a few blocks down, or did you want to go somewhere else," he asked. That's as one of the main reasons that MJ had come to him. There was a really good pizza place that a lot of people went for a first date. He frequented the place with Ned and had seen people walk in in various starts of formality. From pajamas to their prom clothes and no one ever looked out of place. 

"I'm still fine with that," MJ said shrugging.

Peter nodded as they began their walk over.

At first their conversation was tense, filled with akward pauses and uncomfortable stretches of silence. But as they got further along and they remembered that they were friends, it got easier. The walk was now filled with lots of banter and some gentle touches.

By the time they got to the restaurant they were holding hands and walking shoulder to shoulder, leaning into each other slightly.

The waitress who Peter knew smiled when he walked in and led them to the best spot in the restaurant with a wink. Peter knew where one of those 20's was going now.

"What's good here," MJ asked once the waitress left them alone.

"Honestly anything, just don't get their lasagna, the sauce to everything else ratio is way off," Peter said with a small laugh.

Another akward silence surrounded them as they both hid behind their menues. Their waitress was the one to break it.

"What can I get for you," she asked clicking her pen.

"I'll take an iced tea," MJ said putting her menue down.

"And I'll take a coke," Peter told her.

"And to eat," she said quickly writing down their drink orders.

"I'll take the spaghetti with the house salad," Peter said, it was his go to here.

"Umm, I guess I'll have the spaghetti Bolognese," MJ said.

Their waitress nodded, "I'll be right back with your drinks."

She walked away with their menues leaving the 2 teens alone without their meteophorical shields.

"So any plans this weekend," Peter asked playing with a button on his shirt.

"Not really, I have a project due soon so I need to work on that," MJ said.

"Cool." 

Another silence surrounded the small booth, both parties opening and closing their mouths several times without saying anything.

Finally MJ started to look frustrated.

"Oh for goodness sake, we're friends, we shouldn't be like this. We have talked before, so let's talk," she said sharply.

Peter deflated. He didn't know what to do.

"Sorry," MJ said softly from he raised if the table.

Peter looked at her, she looked guilty.

"I didn't mean to sound like that. I'm akward, and you're akward, and I don't want to be akward around you," she said her voice wavering slightly.

"Yeah, I get it. I just don't want to mess this up, I really like you," Peter said blushing slightly.

"I do too," she said ducking her head. 

"Let's start with something easy, what's your favorite movie and why," Peter said taking the lead.

"You don't want to get me started on it," she said shaking her head.

"Yes I do," Peter said empatheticly.

"No you don't, I'll just keep talking and talking, especially with you, you're a good listener," she said.

"Cause I like listening to you," he said with a shy smile.

She smiled back and started talking.

It turned out her favorite movie was The Wizard of Oz. She loved the way that they used both black and white and colour in it. She went on about all the hidden messages and the things that the wizard represented and Oz as a whole. She loved the costumes and everything about it.

And he listened. He hung on to her every word. He watched her face and the fell in love with the way her eyes lit up when she talked. He loved the way her hands moved when she was explaining something, using them to emphasize her points.

He watched her and he listened, and there was nothing he would rather do.

Eventually she got him talking. And he didn't hold back. It was only fair. 

He took the opportunity to nerd our about everything. He watched her face as he talked, noticing the careful concentration on it mixed with the occasional confusion. But there was something else too. There's was a shyness in her eyes. A gentle wonder that seemed to echo in the depths of her irises. 

His chest felt tight, full of hope for what they might become. 

When he finished talking there seemed to be a silence that stretched into eternity. The world seemed to stop. They were staring at each others eyes, looking deep in their souls looking for a sign. A sign that no matter how long they were together that this would be there for one another. That they would be a team. 

Suddenly the world clicked back into place as they found it. As they found the reassurance they were looking for. That they were now one. That they would care for each other as long as it lasted. 

There was a crash outside. Shards of glass few from the window of a shop a few doors down. Shrieks echoed through the air as the dust settled.

Peter looked at MJ who made a shooing motion with her hands.

"Go," shs said.

"But-,"

"The city needs it's hero. I've kept him long enough,", she said. 

Peter scanned her face hoping she wouldn't be too upset by his take off. Finding nothing he slammed a 20 on the the table and ran out. 

He ran back to his house at what was probably a bit faster than normal human speed but he had a job to do. He had seen Metal Man's suit in the distance. Once home he snuck in through the fire escape and changed into his suit. 

He launched himself from the escape and swung into the night. The wind whistled in his ears as he frantically swung back.

When he arrived Metal Man was at the scene wreaking havoc. 

"Hey land octupus, I'm over here," he said landing in front of him.

"You again," Metal Man said angrily swinging at Peter.

Peter ducked the metallic long and shot a web at a nearby building. 

"You're gonna have to try harder than that if want to get rid of me," he taunted dodging another long arm. 

The man just screamed. 

Peter had to admit, he had improved since last time. The shots were more careful and targeted, he had obviously noticed that as the slower one he had to be more careful. He was also not just trying to hit him, he was trying disable him too. Not that it was working of course.

He slammed into a wall in a desperate attempt to escape a hit. He blinked and when he opened his eyes he was in the air, one of his long metal arms wrapped around his middle. His limbs were told heavy to move. He was swaying gently as Metal Man walked down the street. 

He took a minute to collect himself. He was currently on a limb walking behind the front of the suit. A quick scan revealed that there was no way for whoever was in the suit to see him from here.

A plan started to form in his mind.

He gently started sliding himself out of the loop of the limb. Clearly whoever has built this was an engineer because the plates of the arm were well places for maximum dexterity. A closer look revealed that the outside structure was probably made of nano-bots. Interesting. The inner workings of it were probably solid metal, but the outside was nano-bots. That either implied they were on a budget, or that they weren't as smart as they looked. He carefully worked on slipping himself out  
Once out he let out long string of webbing going from the arms and legs of the suit and attaching them to buildings. He gave them enough give that it would be a while until they pulled back. 

Sure enough a few seconds after the suit jolted violently. He shot a web up at a building and pulled himself up.

"Nice try, but kidnapping clearly isn't your strong suit. Next time I recommend keeping the victim visible," Peter said.

The man is the suit screamed and started desperately grabbing at him. 

Peter jumped and weaved between the incoming arms while also carefully webbing him up. 

He jumped back and forth between the buildings on either side attaching webs wherever possible. 

Once he finished webbing him up he waited to hear the sirens before heading back to his appartment. 

When he arrived he was surprised to see MJ sitting on his bed.

"Sorry about that," he said pulling off his mask.

"Don't worry about," she said waving him off.

"Give me a sec," he said grabbing his clothes and running to the bathroom.

Once he ch aged he asked back in to his room slowly, unsure of where to go.

"So, uhhh, what did you want to do now," he asked scratching his head.

"We could watch a movie," she said.

"Sounds good," he said relieved.

He turned his heel and walked towards the closet and pulled out a few blankets. He tossed on a random movie as she took his place next to him. 

They ended up staying like that for the rest of the night. 

A few days later Peter was pacing in front of the hologram screen in the lab with Ned, Mr Stark and MJ sitting on the couch.

"If we can figure out who this guy is then we can cut him off at the scource," he said moving in circles. He had been at this for a while. He kept going over facts and crime rates looking for anything that might point them towards a suspect. But so far their search had turned up empty.

"Well you said that the arms were made of nano-bots right, so who in the city has access to those," MJ said.

"Only high ranking SI employees. And even then only a few. It's dangerous stuff and I haven't figured out how to make sure it isn't weaponized," Mr Stark piped up.

"So that means there's only a few people who could have built the suit. Can we get a list of people with access," MJ said looking towards Mr Stark at the last part.

"Friday," he said tipping his head to the ceiling. 

"Right away boss," she said changing one of the hologram screens to show a list of about 10 people.

"Have any of them done anything that might be considered suspicious at all," Mr Stark asked.

"No sir. In fact only Dr Andrews has touched the nano-bots within the past 8 months," she responded.

"Wait, Peter what about that other guy. The one you worked with for a bit. Uhhh, Dr Button," she said sounding unsure about his name.

"Oh ya, Dr Boonton. Fri," Peter said titling his head up at her name.

"Dr Andrew Boonton seems to be a likely suspect. His actions with Peter and activity on his company computer suggests that he perhaps wasn't a very honest employee," Friday reported..

"Wait a minute. You said that the head of the operation signs his notes under the name of Ontobo right. If you rearrange the letters in Ontobo, you get Boonton," MJ said her house rising with the realization.

"MJ that's brilliant," Peter exclaimed running over to her and pulling her into a hug. 

"Keep the PDA to a minimum," Mr Stark said only slightly joking at the same time that Ned let out a long 'awwww'.

"Let me see," Ned said jumping into the chair in front of the computer.

His fingers went flying over the keyboard. The screen flashed different colors as he opened and closed tabs mumbling to himself as he went.

A few minutes later he showed a timeline that fit the events including attacks and the frequency of Metal Man attacks rising after he got fired.

"We've got it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic was started over a year ago. It's been a long ride and I'm proud of what I've done here. It's not the greatest, but I've had fun writing it. There will be one more chapter after the final chapter that will be a recap of this story. Look out for a new long fic in the new year and a collab crossover fic that's coming soon. ;)
> 
> Sorry for the wait. I hope you enjoyed.


End file.
